An arms race is underway for the pharmaceutical companies involved in the development of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine. Currently, 36 vaccines are being tested in clinical trials with human participants and 89 vaccines are in preclinical studies evaluated on animal species.
Phase III or efficacy trials for the COVID-19 vaccine are double-blind, placebo-controlled studies that involve the provision of vaccines to a large number of participants to measure its effectiveness, to evaluate potential risks and side-effects. Half of the participants are administered the vaccine under evaluation, while the other half are given a placebo. Scientists then wait to see how many of the participants of the two groups become infected with coronavirus to compare the results among the two groups. The F.D.A. has stated that at least 50% of the participants receiving the vaccine must be protected from coronavirus, for the treatment to be deemed effective.
Currently, the pharmaceutical companies conducting phase III clinical trials are the following:
Moderna, a US pharmaceutical company, in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is testing a vaccine that works on messenger RNA (mRNA) to create vital proteins in the body.
The German company BioNTech is collaborating with US company Pfizer and the Chinese company Fosun Pharma to develop an mRNA vaccine.
CanSino Biologics, a Chinese pharmaceutical company has developed a vaccine that acts with an adenovirus called Ad5.
The Russian’s Health Ministry affiliate research center called Gamaleya Research Institute has also developed a vaccine based on two adenoviruses, namely Ad5 and Ad26. Early, limited approval of the vaccine prior to complete phase III results has been deemed risky.
The British-Swedish company AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford have also teamed up in the development of a chimpanzee adenovirus-based vaccine.
The state-owned, Chinese company Sinopharm is testing two inactivated virus vaccines from the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products and the Beijing Institute of Biological Products.
The private, Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech is also testing an inactivated virus vaccine, CoronaVac.
The Australian Murdoch Children’s Research Institute is testing a vaccine developed at the beginning of the 20th century for tuberculosis to determine any protective effects against COVID-19.
For up-to-date information on vaccine trials, please visit: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/science/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker.html
The article is based on the information provided in the aforementioned article.