Seven Coronavirus Vaccines Being Developed To Defeat COVID-19 And Save Millions Of Lives

With every passing day, we all are desperately waiting for medical companies to find a solution for COVID-19. The novel coronavirus today has infected millions of people worldwide and has claimed lives of over 1 lakh lives.

And as the numbers keep increasing, across India and the world, the hunt for a vaccine or effective cure to halt COVID-19 pandemic becomes all the more desperate.

AFP

However, researchers are trying hard each day to bring us a solution to end this mayhem. Here are some vaccines that are currently in the works to save our lives.

Vaccine by Moderna in the US

Moderna, a pharmaceutical company in the US was the first to come out with a vaccine that went for human trials. The vaccine consists of genetic material called messenger RNA, or mRNA, that was produced in a lab.

The mRNA is essentially a genetic code that instructs cells how to form a protein. The mRNA tells the body¡¯s own cellular mechanisms for making proteins that looks similar to the virus proteins, thus forming an immune response.

Currently, it¡¯s undergoing its first phase of human trials. It is expected to commence phase two of the trials in spring, or as soon as summer commences.

Vaccine by Distributed Bio

A few weeks back, Researcher Dr Jacob Glanville, who owns Distributed Bio, revealed in an interview with RNZ¡¯s Checkpoint, saying, ¡°I¡¯m happy to report that my team has successfully taken five antibodies that back in 2002 were determined to bind and neutralise, block and stop the SARS virus.¡±

Researchers created hundreds of millions of versions of SARS antibodies and mutated them. In this pool then they looked for the ones that were easily able to take down COVID-19.

They¡¯re currently waiting for the material to be ready post which they¡¯ll go under human trial involving 400-600 people in hospitals and observe symptoms for 5 to 10 days. If everything goes well, we could expect a vaccine as soon as September this year.

Reuters

Vaccine by BioNTech & Pfizer

Leading pharmaceutical company Pfizer has teamed up with BioNTech to produce COVID-19 vaccines. They¡¯re too harnessing the power of RNA, but unlike the conventional method, these vaccines will use RNA to initiate the production of proteins in the body similar to the virus.

The proteins will then, in turn, trigger the immune response of the human body against the coronavirus. Their research, however, is still in its nascent stages and their vaccines haven¡¯t undergone trials as of now.

Vaccines by researches at University Of Pittsburg

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have developed a vaccine that has delivered a positive result in mice, generating enough antibodies to ¡°neutralise¡± the virus within two weeks.

Named PittCoVacc, the new vaccine developed uses lab-made pieces of viral protein to build immunity. The vaccine is also administered in a novel way to increase the drug¡¯s potency. A patch the size of a fingertip made up of 400 tiny microneedles is applied to the skin.

These micro-needles are made entirely of sugar and protein pieces. Once the patch is placed, these needles simply dissolve into the skin. It is painless and ¡°feels kind of like Velcro,¡± as per study co-author Louis Falo, professor and chair of dermatology.

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Under the hood, the key behind this is a particular protein known as ¡®spike protein¡¯ (inspired by SARS and MERS viruses) that produces immunity against coronavirus.

Phase one of human clinical trials is expected to start in the next few months. However, the authors of the study are to apply for investigational new drug approval with the US Food and Drug Administration.

Vaccine by Johnson and Johnson

Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson has partnered with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for a COVID-19 vaccine.

The company has revealed that they¡¯re in possession of a "lead vaccine candidate" and will begin to be tested on people in clinical studies by September, and if clinical data shows positive results by the end of 2020, the vaccine could hit the shelves in less than a year.

Vaccine Funded By Bill Gates

Backed by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, along with several other nonprofits, the vaccine is called INO-4800 and its a DNA vaccine, which works by injecting an engineered plasmid in a patient¡¯s body to help the body create its own antibodies to ward of a particular infection (in this case, COVID-19).

Reuters

DNA vaccines are usually seen in a variety of animal infections and are commonly used in veterinary medicine, and has not yet been approved for human testing, until now. Invio has already developed thousands of doses for its Phase I and Phase II studies. Moreover, if everything goes well, they¡¯ll be able to deliver up to one million doses of the vaccine ready by the end of the year -- for emergency use or for use in additional trials.

Vaccine in Russia

Vektor State Virology and Biotechnology Centre in Russia is currently working on developing its own vaccine to combat COVID-19. They¡¯ve revealed to the world that first-phase clinical trials of three vaccines from June 29. 180 volunteers will be taking part for the same.

Scientists have developed several prototypes of the vaccine at a top-secret lab complex located in Koltsovo outside the Siberian city of Novosibirsk. They¡¯ve already commenced testing vaccines on mice and rabbits, before commencing human testing.