U.K. Preparing COVID-19 Vaccine Trials That Deliberately Infect Study Subjects

A syringe at the Royal Free Hospital, north London, shown as part of a vaccine trial.

Kirsty O'Connor / PA Images via Getty Images

Updated at 9:00 a.m. ET

Researchers in Britain are preparing to start a controversial COVID-19 “human challenge” study in which dozens of healthy volunteers will be exposed to live coronavirus in an effort to speed up vaccine development.

The Human Challenge Programme will be conducted by Imperial College London, which said Tuesday in a statement that it would be working in cooperation with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, and hVIVO, a clinical company that has worked on viral human challenge models.