Clinical trial of pill version of COVID-19 vaccine starts in Israel

• Clinical trial on 24 unvaccinated volunteers for a single-dose capsule version of a vaccine approved.
• The capsule could be used as a booster against the more contagious Delta variant.
• The pill had tested on pigs and the animals had produced antibodies after being administered it.

Jerusalem-based Oramed Pharmaceuticals announced that is has received approval from the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center to start a clinical trial on 24 unvaccinated volunteers for a single-dose capsule version of a COVID-19 vaccine. 

Oramed announced in March that it had tested its pill on pigs and the animals had produced antibodies after being administered it.

A pill version of coronavirus vaccine could be a “game changer” in countries with a low vaccination rate, the developer has said.

The company which specializes in creating oral versions of drugs that are usually administered via an injection, is also currently conducting trials for its oral insulin capsule to treat Type-2 diabetes. All currently existing COVID-19 vaccines are administrated via one or two injections.

According to Oramed CEO Nadav Kidron, the trial for the COVID-19 vaccine pill is expected to start next month, once it gains the final approval from the Health Ministry.

Kidron added that the pill could be used as a booster against the more contagious Delta variant.

“Our oral vaccine, which doesn’t rely on a deep-freeze supply chain unlike other coronavirus vaccines, could mean all the difference between a country being able to emerge from the pandemic or not,” Kidron said.