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The Yomiuri Shimbun/ANN - Japanese medical startup AnGes Inc. has decided to start a clinical trial in July to obtain government approval for a new coronavirus vaccine that the company is jointly developing with Osaka University.

It is expected to be the first such clinical trial in Japan. The goal is to put the vaccine into practical application by March 2021.

Based in Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, AnGes announced Monday that its team had detected antibodies against the virus in mice and rats treated with the vaccine. Antibodies are a type of protein produced by the body in response to the invasion of pathogens, and prevent a disease from becoming severe.

According to sources, the clinical test will be conducted on dozens of medical workers at Osaka City University Hospital, with which AnGes signed an agreement for the test. By the end of the year, the team plans to expand the clinical trial to involve hundreds of people, to evaluate the effectiveness of the drug.

The vaccine under development is called a DNA vaccine and has the advantage of shorter production times compared with conventional vaccines. AnGes says it can be produced in six to eight weeks.