The scientists world over are leading a war against the deadly Covid-19 with efforts are on for a vaccine to save the world. As many 13 experimental vaccines are in stage of human trials and more than 120 others are in earlier stages of development.
The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Solidarity Trial, the UK’s RECOVERY Trial and the US’s ‘Operation Warp Speed’ are three of the leading scientific thrusts for a vaccine currently. The million-dollar question is when will we have a vaccine finally.
- Oxford-AstraZeneca
Being jointly developed by British-Swedish company AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, the AZD1222 vaccine, based on a chimpanzee adenovirus called ChAdOx1, is beginning Phase II/III testing in the UK and Brazil.
Expected Deadline: AstraZeneca has already started to mass-produce the vaccine candidate and plans to roll out up to two billion doses of a coronavirus vaccine in September. The firm has signed deals to produce 400 million doses for the US and 100 million for the UK if it is successful in human trials.
- Moderna vaccine
US firm Moderna Inc is developing a vaccine using messenger RNA to produce viral proteins. Final-stage trials of the mRNA-1273 vaccine is set to begin next month on 30,000 people.
Expected Deadline: They hope to make it available by early 2021.
- Pfizer-BNTECH
Pfizer has collaborated with German company BNTECH and has started the process of dosing patients. Four vaccine candidates based on messenger RNA (mRNA) format are being tested on volunteers.
Expected Deadline: The company hopes to roll out the vaccine by the end of October 2020.
- Imperial College London
Another much-awaited vaccine is being developed by Imperial College London based on self-amplifying RNA technology and over 300 healthy people have been immunised with two doses.
Expected Deadline: They University hopes to distribute the vaccine by early next year.
- Sinovac Biotech
The Beijing-based Sinovac Biotech is testing an inactivated vaccine called CoronaVac and is preparing Phase III trials in China and Brazil. Preliminary findings from phase I and II trials in China have shown that its shot is safe and capable of eliciting an immune response from human trials.
Expected Deadline: The vaccine could be out before next year.
- CanSino Biologics
Chinese vaccine company Cansino Biologics Inc has claimed success in phase one trials and started the phase-11.
Expected Deadline: The company hopes to produce the vaccine and distribute by the end of this year.
- Novavax
US biotechnology company Novavax has started human trials of its protein-based NVX-CoV2373 vaccine for Covid-19 in Australia. Animal testing suggested the recombinant vaccine is effective in low doses.
Expected Deadline: Novavax is planning to manufacture at least 100 million doses this year and 1.5 billion in 2021.
- Sinopharm
China National Biotec Group (CNBG), known as Sinopharm, is planning late-stage human trials in foreign countries by next month. It recently said its experimental coronavirus vaccine has triggered antibodies in April clinical trials involving 1,120 healthy participants.
Expected Deadline: End of this year or early next year
- CureVac
German biotech firm CureVac has started human trials of its coronavirus vaccines, involving 168 healthy volunteers.
Expected Deadline: The company is yet to give an expected date for the market launch
- Johnson & Johnson
American pharma major Johnson & Johnson has fast-tracked the start of human clinical trials for its recombinant Ad26.COV2-S vaccine by two months to the second half of July. The company is also in talks with the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases(NIAID) to start larger, late-stage trials ahead of schedule.
Expected Deadline: In March, J&J signed deals with the US government to create enough manufacturing capacity to produce more than 1 billion doses of its vaccine through 2021.
