BRIEF—COVID-19 human challenge study to expand

The world's first Covid-19 human challenge study is to be expanded.

Clinical research organization Open Orphan has announced that it is continuing to work with the UK government to inoculate up to 20 further volunteers as part of the study.

As part of the characterization study, researchers aimed to identify a dose of COVID-19 that causes a safe and reliable infection in unvaccinated COVID-19 naïve volunteers.

Cathal Friel, executive chairman of Open Orphan, said: “At Open Orphan, we are committed to helping the UK government in partnership with two great institutions, Imperial College London and the Royal Free Hospital, to discover effective treatments for COVID-19. This study expansion further illustrates the effectiveness and importance of this study.”