1,800 volunteers sought for A&M test of COVID-19 drug

Researchers are seeking 1,800 front-line medical workers to participate in a clinical trial of a widely used tuberculosis vaccine that could blunt the devastating effects of COVID-19.

A Texas A&M University professor believes the Bacillus Calmette–Guérin, or BCG, vaccine, which is also used to treat bladder cancer in the U.S., could reduce hospitalizations and deaths.

As the coronavirus has spread around the world, researchers have noticed that the morbidity and mortality rates were lower in some developing countries where the BCG vaccine is widely used.

Researchers hope to demonstrate that the BCG mitigates the effects of the virus, allowing fewer people to be hospitalized or to die from COVID-19.

Texas A&M is the first U.S. institution in the clinical trial to have federal clearance for testing on humans.

Healthcare workers will be the first people eligible for the clinical trial, which is set to begin this week.

“It’s not going to prevent people from getting infected,” said Jeffrey D. Cirillo, a Regent’s Professor of Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology at the Texas A&M Health Science Center.

“This vaccine has the very broad ability to strengthen your immune response. We call it ‘trained immunity.’

“This could make a huge difference in the next two to three years while the development of a specific vaccine is developed for COVID-19," said Cirillo.

Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp last week offered $2.5 million to make sure the work of Cirillo can move forward as quickly as possible.

“If there was ever a time to invest in medical research, it is now,” Sharp said.

“Dr. Cirillo has a head start on a possible coronavirus treatment, and I want to make sure he has what he needs to protect the world from more of the horrible effects of this pandemic.”

Cirillo said re-purposing the existing bladder cancer vaccine, called TICE BCG, could result in bringing a COVID-19 treatment to the U.S. public in the fastest possible way.

Because the drug is already approved by the FDA, Cirillo can skip the first three phases of clinical trials usually required before testing on people, since this vaccine has already passed those phases.

“Before Chancellor Sharp’s investment in our work, we were spending far too much time writing grants,” Cirillo said. "Now, we can move ahead without barriers."

Recruitment of 1,800 volunteers to participate in the trial is already underway in College Station and Houston, and it could be expanded to other areas of the state as well as Los Angeles and Boston.

Medical professionals interested in the trial can contact Gabriel Neal, MD at gneal@tamu.edu or Jeffrey Cirillo, PhD at jdcirillo@tamu.edu or George Udeani, PharmD DSc at udeani@tamu.edu.

The Texas A&M Health Science Center is leading a group of scientists and medical doctors with Harvard’s School of Public Health, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.