News

A medical research team from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) started a large-scale clinical trial on a new COVID-19 inactivated vaccine (Omicron variant). The study is led by Professor Ivan Hung, Chief of Division of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Professor of Department of Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed) and HKU Clinical Trials Centre (HKU-CTC) is responsible for coordination and technical support.

A press conference was held on 31st May, 2022 to share with the public more about the details of the clinical trial. Professor Ivan Hung, Dr. Kelvin To (Chairperson and Clinical Associate Professor of Department of Microbiology, HKUMed) and Mr. Henry Yau (Managing Director of HKU-CTC) were invited. For more details about the press conference, please visit: https://hku.hk/press/news_detail_24616.html

As thousands of volunteers are needed for this study, if you are interested to join, please register via the link below:
https://redcap.link/joinctc2298

Available in Chinese only.

Now News visited HKU Phase 1 Clinical Trials Centre earlier to produce a report on the process and progress of the phase 1 clinical trial of “VectorFlu ONE”. Here is the report by Now News (Chinese only):

The phase 1 clinical trial of VectorFlu^TM ONE, the world’s first COVID-19 nasal vaccine developed by the research team of HKU Department of Microbiology, has commenced in March 2021 at the HKU Phase 1 Clinical Trials Centre. About 115 healthy volunteers will be recruited to evaluate the safety and immune responses of the vaccine.

VectorFlu^TM ONE is the first novel vaccine that is developed by Hong Kong and goes into human trial. The phase 1 trial will last for around 1.5 years. Part 1 of the trial has commenced in March 2021, where about 30 volunteers have already received one or two vaccinations. Part 2 will begin in July 2021 and 85 volunteers will be recruited. We are still looking for more volunteers to join.

The recruitment of this study started in July 2020 and 52 healthy volunteers were recruited.  This clinical study consisted of 2 parts (fasted and fed), and each volunteer only joined either one part. The duration of each part was around 4-6 weeks, including screening, confinement and follow up visits.  Although the study process was slightly postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to the genuine support from our volunteers and the effort of our HKU professional research team, the project was completed safely and efficiently in November 2020.

HKU Clinical Trials Centre was delegated to research on a novel drug for treating autoimmune diseases. Phase 1 trial of the drug was conducted in Canada earlier but the research purpose was to evaluate the metabolism and safety of the drug at dose escalation in Chinese population.

Recruitment started in May 2019 and 24 qualified healthy volunteers were selected after screening. The 18-week research was divided into 3 cohorts and each volunteer only joined one of them. The volunteers received injection during their 6-day-5-night stay in the Centre. As the duration of overnight stay was long, two workshops were organized, namely Spark Chamber and Mini Neon Light DIY Workshops. 

The clinical study was successfully completed in November 2020.

To help identify possible treatments for tackling COVID-19, The University of Hong Kong Clinical Trials Centre join forces with Queen Mary Hospital, Prince of Wales Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital and the manufacturer of remdesivir, an investigational antiviral drug, in arranging for two clinical trials targeting for the treatment of moderate to severe COVID-19 patients. With a common goal of accelerating the preparation for the trials, the parties have been working hard in the past few weeks and quickly obtained the approvals from the research ethics committees. It is anticipated that the trials will be initiated within this month (i.e. March 2020).

The investigational drug of this study is EXPAREL^®, a local anesthetic, which was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2011 on postsurgical pain relief. HKU-CTC was delegated to perform this study to evaluate the metabolic and safety profiles of this drug in Chinese population.

Recruitment of this study started in October 2019, and 20 healthy volunteers were recruited. The duration of this clinical study was around 54 days, including screening, 6-night confinement, ambulatory visits and a follow up phone call. During the study period, volunteers received one dose of the investigational drug via subcutaneous injection at multiple points. Due to the long staying period, HKU-CTC organized 3 workshops for the healthy volunteers, including Turkish Mosaic Lamp Workshop, Little Paper Art Night Lamp Workshop and Art of Paper Tearing Workshop. The project was completed in January 2020.

The investigational drug, Benralizumab, is a novel drug for treating asthma. It was approved in USA, European Union, Japan and Canada. HKU Clinical Trials Centre conducted the phase 1 clinical research of the drug to evaluate the metabolism and safety of the drug using different doses in Chinese population.

Recruitment started in March 2019 and 36 healthy volunteers were selected to join the study. The whole study took 17 weeks and it included screening, 3-day-2-night confinement and follow-up visits. Volunteers were divided into 2 groups to receive injection. The research was completed in August 2019. 

Available in Chinese only