{"id":91518,"date":"2020-10-16T19:50:01","date_gmt":"2020-10-16T16:50:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/the-race-for-a-covid-19-vaccine-heats-up\/"},"modified":"2020-10-16T19:50:01","modified_gmt":"2020-10-16T16:50:01","slug":"the-race-for-a-covid-19-vaccine-heats-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-race-for-a-covid-19-vaccine-heats-up\/","title":{"rendered":"#The race for a COVID-19 vaccine heats up"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#The race for a COVID-19 vaccine heats up<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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Dozens of companies, from biotech start-ups to Big Pharma, are racing to develop a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine, because the world needs it and for the potential pay day.\n <\/p>\n

Here’s an update on the quest for a magic bullet against the coronavirus that has already killed more than a million people worldwide.<\/p>\n

How many in the pipeline?<\/b><\/p>\n

The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified 42 “candidate vaccines” at the stage of clinical trials, up from 11 in mid-June.<\/p>\n

Ten of them are at the most advanced “phase 3” stage, in which a vaccine’s effectiveness is tested on a large scale, general<\/a>ly tens of thousands of people across several continents.<\/p>\n

US biotech firm Moderna, a US-German collaboration between BioNTech and Pfizer, several state-run Chinese labs, and a European project led by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca are thought to be among the more promising. Russia has already registered two COVID-19 vaccines, even before clinical trials were completed.<\/p>\n

US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer said on Friday it would app<\/a>ly for emergency authorisation in the United States for its vaccine in late November if safety data pans out.<\/p>\n

Other clinical trials are still in phase 1 or 2, while another 156 are in pre-clinical stages of development.<\/p>\n

What kind of vaccines?<\/b><\/p>\n

Some methods for making a vaccine are tried-and-true, while others remain experimental.<\/p>\n

Inactivated “classic” vaccines use a virus germ that has been killed while others use a weakened or “attenuated” strain that is virulent enough to provoke antibodies but not to cause disease.<\/p>\n

So-called “sub-unit” vaccines contain a fragment of the pathogen that it is derived from to produce an appropriate immune response.<\/p>\n

“Viral vector” varieties use other forms of live virus to deliver DNA into human cells, triggering an immune response.<\/p>\n

A measles virus modified with a coronavirus protein, for example, can be deployed against COVID-19.<\/p>\n

There are also experimental gene-based vaccines using DNA or RNA fragments.<\/p>\n

What are the results?<\/b><\/p>\n

To date, only the result of phase 1 and 2 trials have been published in peer-reviewed medical journals.
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On Friday, preliminary results showing that a vaccine developed by Chinese firm Sinopharm provoked an immune response were published in The Lancet.<\/p>\n

Similar studies in recent weeks have reported on one of the Russian vaccines, along with those from the University of Oxford, Chinese company CanSino, and Moderna.<\/p>\n

While encouraging, it is too soon to say whether these vaccines will pan out. Trials of two candidate vaccines\u2014made by Johnson & Johnson and Eli Lilly \u2014- were “paused” recently over safety concerns.<\/p>\n

But that is not necessarily bad news<\/a>, said Stephen Evans, a professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.<\/p>\n

“The fact that trials are paused should indicate that there should be confidence that the whole process of monitoring the safety of trial participants is working well,” he said.<\/p>\n

Recent cases in which recovered COVID patients were infected a second time with a new strain also raise the question of how long vaccines might last.<\/p>\n

Speed vs. safety<\/b><\/p>\n

Companies backed by their governments in China, Russia and the United States are racing to be the first across the finish line.<\/p>\n

In early August Russian President Vladimir Putin declared victory, announcing the roll-out of the Sputnik V vaccine before phase 3 trials had begun. <\/p>\n

But there were few takers outside of Russia, and experts dismissed the announcement as premature.<\/p>\n

Donald Trump has promised a vaccine before the November 3 election, but it is unlikely he will be able to deliver. <\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it would need to see two months of follow up data after vaccination before giving emergency authorisation for use. <\/p>\n

And on Friday, Pfizer said its vaccine wouldn’t be ready until mid-November.<\/p>\n

“What is different for COVID-19 vaccines is that speed of development and potential approval is much faster due to the public health emergency,” noted the European Medicines Agency.<\/p>\n

But even that pressing need cannot overcome the rules.<\/p>\n

“Before approval, all vaccines in the European Union are evaluated against the same high standards as any other medicine,” the Agency said in a statement.\n <\/p>\n\n

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Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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\n \u00a9 2020 AFP<\/p>\n

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\n The race for a COVID-19 vaccine heats up (2020, October 16)
\n retrieved 17 October 2020
\n from https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2020-10-covid-vaccine.html<\/p>\n

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