My Covid-19 shot is a universal booster, says Billionaire Soon-shiong

On Jul 28, 2021

United States biotechnology billionaire Patrick Soon is supporting a Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) vaccine candidate, which he believes is a great universal aid to other pandemic shots.

ImmunityBio Inc., of which Patrick, the 68-year-old owns about 13%, is inventing a vaccine called hAd5, which aims to specifically activate T-cells, which scientists have found to protect against COVID-19. They also think it is an important part of the immune response.

The South African-born biotech tycoon will start doing tests in the country what he calls a COVID-19 “firestorm”.

“Most vaccines work by eliciting immune proteins called antibodies that block the spike protein that the coronavirus uses to enter cells. San Diego-based ImmunityBio is trying to amplify T-cells against both Spike and another viral protein, called a nucleocapsid, Patrick Soon said. This could make it ideal for use as a booster for a variety of vaccines”, he said in an interview.

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