Fargo company to conduct patient trials for COVID-19 vaccine

FARGO, ND – A Fargo-based medical research company has been chosen to conduct two clinical trials that could lead to a vaccine for COVID-19.

Lillestol Research is among several facilities across the nation involved in “Operation Warp Speed”, the federal government’s plan to provide 300 million doses of coronavirus vaccine by January, 2021.

Director of Operations Jamie Brown says Lillestol plans to begin recruiting patients for the trial in the near-future. She says patients chosen for the study will be tracked regularly to see if they contract coronavirus. Participants will be compensated.

“These trials are placebo-controlled, meaning patients will get real vaccine or a placebo, which is inactive. We won’t know who is getting which type. They will be followed for approximately two years. They’re really followed closely that first year.”

“Things have been changing at a very, very fast pace. We’ve never seen anything develop this quickly before” Brown said. “We expect to get started in the next 2-3 weeks and enrollment. They want to be getting all of the patients into the trial in two months.

Brown says the trials will be overseen by the U.S. Food & Drug
Administration. Pharmaceutical companies will provide the vaccines and placebos.