<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/10/1571089976044.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By DAN MARGOLIES <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-07-29/ku-med-and-childrens-mercy-to-lead-clinical-trials-of-promising-covid-19-vaccine">Kansas News Service</a>A COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and pharmaceutical 
giant AstraZeneca will be tested locally as part of a clinical trial 
seeking to enroll 30,000 participants nationwide.The University 
of Kansas Medical Center and Children’s Mercy Hospital will lead the 
local effort, which calls for the recruitment of 1,500 participants in 
Kansas and Missouri.Known as AZD1222, the vaccine generated an immune response in a study of 1,077 patients, according to interim results <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31604-4/fulltext" target="_blank">published in The Lancet</a> medical journal on July 20.More
 than 100 COVID-19 vaccines are currently in development, but AZD1222 
has been one of the first to move into large-scale clinical trials. The
 data published in The Lancet showed that the vaccine caused a variety 
of side effects in 60% of the participants. But those side effects — 
including fever, headaches, muscle aches and fatigue — were deemed mild 
or moderate.“This vaccine is very exciting,” said Dr. Mario 
Castro, a pulmonologist with the KU School of Medicine. “There’s been so
 much thrown at this coronavirus in terms of treatment and prevention, 
and we ultimately know that the best strategy for this virus is a 
vaccine.”Castro and Dr. Barbara Pahud, an infectious disease 
specialist at Chidren’s Mercy, will serve as co-principal investigators 
for the local trials.AZD1222 is entering Phase 3 of clinical 
trials, meaning the vaccine — having cleared earlier stages of 
investigation — is given to thousands of people to see how many become 
infected compared with volunteers who receive a placebo. The 
Phase 3 trials are expected to begin in mid- or late August. 
Participants must be over the age of 18 and considered to be at high 
risk of coming into contact with the novel coronavirus that causes 
COVID-19. The participants will be randomized; two out of three will get
 the vaccine and the rest will get a placebo.According to <a href="https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/phase-3-clinical-trial-investigational-vaccine-covid-19-begins" target="_blank">the National Institutes of Health</a>,
 Phase 3 clinical trials for another vaccine under development by 
Moderna Inc., a biotechnology company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, have 
also begun across the country. Like the AZD1222 trials, those trials are
 expected to enroll approximately 30,000 adult volunteers nationwide.The
 Washington University School of Medicine and the St. Louis University 
Center for Vaccine Development are leading regional clinical trials for 
the Moderna vaccine.That vaccine, which has also shown promise, 
uses messenger RNA, or mRNA, to prompt cells to make a fragment of the 
virus, which primes the immune system to attack if it encounters the 
real coronavirus.By contrast, AZD1222 uses a genetically 
engineered virus taken from chimpanzees that carries a gene for one 
protein in the coronavirus. The virus is inserted into patients’ cells, 
causing them to manufacture that protein, which in turn triggers an 
immune response."Safety is our No. 1 priority," said Pahud of 
Children's Mercy Hospital. "I would not offer this vaccine if I were not
 ready to take it myself." People wanting to be considered for 
the AZD1222 clinical trial and receive the vaccine can register using 
the Coronavirus Prevention Network website or by calling 913-574-3006 in
 Kansas City, 316-293-1833 in Wichita.Dan Margolies is senior reporter and editor at KCUR. He can be reached by email at dan@kcur.org or on Twitter @DanMargolies.&nbsp;

KU Med, Children’s Mercy to lead clinical trials of promising COVID-19 vaccine