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P3 has one shot on goal … we’re really hoping it works DARPA program manager Amy Jenkins

Amy Jenkins, a DARPA program manager, said in an interview with IEEE Spectrum that, right now, P3 has “one shot on goal … we’re really hoping it works.”

DARPA’s firebreak project proposes to shorten the lengthy vaccine process by taking a blood sample from a survivor, screening it to find all the antibodies the person’s body has made to fight off the virus, choosing the most effective one, mapping its genetic code and then manufacturing it and injecting it into people. The first human trial began this week.

This would leapfrog the development of vaccines, which are in the works, but will likely take more than a year to create. It would also skip the time-consuming step of manufacturing antibodies in bioreactors for injection. Instead, doctors would inject the genetic antibody material directly into humans, so that their bodies could produce their own antibodies. If effective, the protection would kick in within six to 24 hours.

DARPA has been working for years on such immunotherapy treatments involving other diseases. The Pentagon is involved with pandemic strategies as a matter of national security, public safety and in order to develop drugs to protect front-line personnel, from soldiers to medical personnel, first responders, scientists and other vulnerable caregivers.

Hopefully, the firebreak, which isn’t permanent, will last up to six months. Vaccines, on the other hand, permanently address the problem by injecting people with a safe form of the pathogen, so that their bodies can safely have an opportunity to learn how to respond. This takes many months to formulate and manufacture, and immunity doesn’t kick in for a couple of weeks after the injection.