Volunteer to be infected with coronavirus and you could be paid £3,500 to help scientists discover a vaccine.
Queen Mary BioEnterprises in Whitechapel, London are looking to infect 24 healthy people with 0C43 and 229E strains of the virus. These two common versions of the coronavirus are less serious and are only thought to cause mild respiratory symptoms, not as strong as the Covid-19 strain, The Daily Star Reports.
The experiment will help bring down the virus that has already killed more than 3,500 worldwide, scientists believe.
Spending two weeks in isolation, the participants will have their diets restricted and will not do any exercise or have physical contact with any (sounds a dream). Nasal swabs, blood tests and a series of other examinations will take place over the two weeks.
Hvivo, still need to get the green light from UK’s Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency before they commence. Around 35 candidates have been listed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), so a substantial reward is expected to the creator of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Executive chairman, Cathal Friel, of Hvivo’s parent company, Open Orphan, says the company is at the ‘forefront of the fight against the outbreak’.
[Featured image: Unsplash]
