World's first Covid-19 vaccine alternating dose study launches in Birmingham

COVID-19 vaccine alternating dose study launched today (4 February 2021) in the UK

Study will examine using different vaccines for the two doses, as well as different intervals between doses

Innovative study backed by £7 million of government funding to recruit over 800 participants across seven UK sites

Current programme of two doses of the same vaccine over twelve weeks remains unchanged

The world’s first COVID-19 vaccine study researching alternating doses and intervals of approved vaccines, begins today in the West Midlands.

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)-supported study, which will be run at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, will determine the effects of using a different vaccine for the second dose to the first dose, in addition to two different intervals between doses.

The study, classified as an Urgent Public Health study by the NIHR, is being undertaken by the National Immunisation Schedule Evaluation Consortium (NISEC) and the Oxford Vaccine Group, and is backed by £7 million of government funding from the Vaccines Taskforce.

Over 800 volunteers, aged 50-years-old and above, are expected to take part in the study referred to as the COVID-19 Heterologous Prime Boost study, or ‘Com-Cov’, across eight sites across England - including in London, Birmingham and Liverpool.

The study, run at eight National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) supported sites, will gather immunological evidence on different intervals between the first and second dose for a mixed-vaccine regimen against control groups when the same vaccine is used for both doses.

A same-dose regimen is currently implemented for the national COVID-19 vaccination programme, and there are no current plans for this to change. Anyone who has received either the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccination as part of the UK-wide delivery plan will not be affected by this study. They will receive their second dose from the same source and over the same 12 week interval.

The clinical study will monitor the impact of the different dosing regimens on patients’ immune responses, and whether this can be a viable route to increase the flexibility of the UK’s vaccination programme. It has received ethics approval, as well as approval from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to commence.

Should the study show promising results, then the government may consider reviewing the vaccine regimen approach if needed, but only if proven to be safe and recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

Professor Jeremy Kirk, Clinical Director of the Clinical Research Network West Midlands said: ‘The more choices we have when it comes to vaccinating people, the greater our chances of finding a solution that suits everyone. This study will give us the data to make those decisions.’

The study will have eight different arms, testing eight different combinations and interval doses:

Oxford/AstraZeneca and Oxford/AstraZeneca - 28 days apart
Oxford/AstraZeneca and Oxford/AstraZeneca - 12 weeks apart
Pfizer/BioNTech and Pfizer/BioNTech - 28 days apart
Pfizer/BioNTech and Pfizer/BioNTech - 12 weeks apart
Oxford/AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech - 28 days apart
Oxford/AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech - 12 weeks apart
Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca - 28 days apart
Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca - 12 weeks apart

The 13-month study will monitor the impact of the different dosing regimens on patients’ immune responses, which have the potential to be higher or lower than from the same dose regimen.

Patients are to be recruited over the course of February via the NHS COVID-19 Vaccine Research Registry, with vaccinations expected to start towards the middle of the month and initial results to be made available over the summer period. The study will last for 13 months, and the UK public can volunteer to be contacted about taking part in the study and further COVID-19 vaccine studies by joining the registry or visiting www.comcovstudy.org.uk website to find out more about the study and see if there is a study site near them.

If the study shows promising results, the MHRA would formally assess the safety and efficacy of any new vaccination regimen before it would be rolled out to patients.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Senior Responsible Officer for the study Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said:

‘Given the inevitable challenges of immunising large numbers of the population against COVID-19 and potential global supply constraints, there are definitely advantages to having data that could support a more flexible immunisation programme, if ever needed and approved by the medicines regulator.

“It is also even possible that by combining vaccines, the immune response could be enhanced giving even higher antibody levels that last longer; unless this is evaluated in a clinical trial we just won’t know.

‘This study will be a promising opportunity to gain greater insight into how we can use the vaccines to stay on top of this nasty disease.’

Professor Andrew Ustianowski, NIHR Clinical Lead for COVID-19 Vaccination Programme and Joint National Infection Specialty Lead, said:

‘This is another exciting step forward in finding a variety of vaccine options for the UK and globally, for which the NIHR is integral to ensuring the participant recruitment for this study and the gaining of robust data on safety and effectiveness.

‘We need people from all backgrounds to take part in this trial, so that we can ensure we have vaccine options suitable for all. Signing up to volunteer for vaccine studies is quick and easy via the NHS Vaccine Research Registry.’

Matthew Snape, Associate Professor in Paediatrics and Vaccinology at the University of Oxford, said:

‘This is a tremendously exciting study that will provide information vital to the roll out of vaccines in the UK and globally. We call on those aged 50 years and above who have not yet received a COVID-19 vaccine to visit the www.comcovstudy.org.uk website to find out more about the study and see if there is a study site near them.

‘If we do show that these vaccines can be used interchangeably in the same schedule this will greatly increase the flexibility of vaccine delivery, and could provide clues as to how to increase the breadth of protection against new virus strains.’

The UK public can continue to support the national effort to speed up vaccine research and receive more information about volunteering for future vaccine studies by visiting www.nhs.uk/researchcontact.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

This study is separate to the COVID-19 national immunisation programme. Vaccines are not being mixed as part of rollout of the national COVID-19 immunisation programme.

The Vaccines Taskforce (VTF) was set up under the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in May 2020, to ensure that the UK population has access to clinically effective and safe vaccines as soon as possible, while working with partners to support international access to successful vaccines. This is to place the UK at the forefront of global vaccine research, development, manufacture and distribution.

The Vaccines Taskforce comprises a dedicated team of private sector industry professionals and officials from across government who are working at speed to build a portfolio of promising vaccine candidates that can end the global pandemic.

The Vaccines Taskforce’s approach to securing access to vaccines is through:

- procuring the rights to a diverse range of promising vaccine candidates to spread risk and optimise chances for success
- providing funding for clinical studies, diagnostic monitoring and regulatory support to rapidly evaluate vaccines for safety and efficacy
- providing funding and support for manufacturing scale-up and fill and finish at risk so that the UK has vaccines produced at scale and ready for administration should any of these prove successful

About the National Institute for Health Research

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is the nation's largest funder of health and care research. The NIHR:

Funds, supports and delivers high quality research that benefits the NHS, public health and social care
Engages and involves patients, carers and the public in order to improve the reach, quality and impact of research
Attracts, trains and supports the best researchers to tackle the complex health and care challenges of the future
Invests in world-class infrastructure and a skilled delivery workforce to translate discoveries into improved treatments and services
Partners with other public funders, charities and industry to maximise the value of research to patients and the economy

The NIHR was established in 2006 to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research, and is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care. In addition to its national role, the NIHR supports applied health research for the direct and primary benefit of people in low- and middle-income countries, using UK aid from the UK government.

About the Vaccine Taskforce

Through the Government’s Vaccine Taskforce, the UK has secured early access to 367 million doses of seven of the most promising vaccine candidates, including:

BioNTech/Pfizer – Approved - 40 million doses secured
Oxford/Astra Zeneca –Approved - 100 million doses secured
Moderna – Approved - 17 million doses secured
Novavax – Phase III - 60 million doses secured
Janssen – Phase III - 30 million doses secured
GSK/Sanofi – Phase I / II - 60 million doses secured
Valneva – Phase I / II - 60 million doses secured, with an option to acquire a further 130 million if the vaccine is proven to be safe, effective and suitable.

The Vaccine Taskforce (VTF) was set up under the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in May 2020, to ensure that the UK population has access to clinically effective and safe vaccines as soon as possible, while working with partners to support international access to successful vaccines. This is to place the UK at the forefront of global vaccine research, development, manufacture and distribution.