Challenge Trials in Pandemic Settings

In September 2024 the first participant was inoculated in the first controlled human infection study to be conducted in Singapore. The challenge agent in this study (SingCoV) is the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2. 

SingCoV aims to improve our scientific understanding of the immune response during the very early stages of SARS-CoV-2 infection. This understanding is crucial for developing the next-generation of transmission blocking COVID-19 vaccines. Working with international partners, SingCoV also aims to build the local capability to conduct challenge studies as part of the pandemic response. 

There are large potential benefits of such studies including accelerating the development of vaccines and therapeutics, and there is broad consensus that the intentional infection of research participants in this setting can be done in an ethically acceptable way. Yet such research with novel pathogens during a public health emergency may also be associated with significant risks and/or uncertainties.