The management of Adeleke University, Ede, Osun State, on Friday, said a vaccine for the treatment of coronavirus being developed by the university in collaboration with scholars from five other institutions had been selected by the World Health Organisation for further trial.

The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Solomon Adebola, who made the disclosure while speaking with journalists on the 10th anniversary of the university, said the vaccine developed by a team of researchers led by a lecturer at the university, was one of the two vaccine candidates that the WHO had selected for further development in Africa.

According to Adebola, the lead researcher on the project, Dr Kolawole Oladipo, is working with scholars from Precious Cornerstone University, Ibadan; Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso; Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife; University of Ilorin; and Elizade University, Ilaramokin, Ondo State.

He said, “Recently, a vaccine candidate developed by a member of our staff, Dr Kolawole Oladipo of Microbiology Department, was recognised by the WHO and the Federal Ministry of Health as one of two vaccine candidates coming from Africa and the only one from Nigeria came from Adeleke University. The other candidate is from Egypt.”

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Shedding light on the research efforts, the Dean, Faculty of Science, Adeleke University, Prof. Olubukola Oyawoye, who is the deputy coordinator of the project, said the study used the reserve vaccinology approach to design and highlight vaccinology procedures used for the development of the next-generation vaccines with high effectiveness.

She added that the research had reached the preclinical trial stage and that ethical approval had been granted by the Oyo State Ministry of Health for the conduct of the preclinical trial.

Commenting further on the journey of the university in the last 10 years and its projection for the future, the vice chancellor said the institution had succeeded in producing quality graduates excelling in various spheres globally.

He stated that the university intends to be among the best five privately owned universities in the country, and had plans to further expand the scope of its academic programmes.