Dozens of companies, from biotech start-ups to Big Pharma, are in the race to develop a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine, both to meet the urgent medical needs and for the potential payday.
Six major vaccines in Phase 3 or above are as follows:
European:
Candidate: BNT162, Mechanism: mRNA-based vaccine, Sponsor: Pfizer, BioNTech, Trial phase: 3 and Institution: Multiple study sites in Europe and North America.
US-German collaboration between Pfizer and BioNTech surged past a key milestone on Wednesday.
Pfizer and BioNTech have reported that phase 3 trials for their mRNA vaccine showed 95 percent efficacy in preventing Covid-19 symptoms and did not produce adverse side effects among thousands of volunteers.
American:
Candidate 1: mRNA-1273, Mechanism: mRNA-based vaccine, Sponsor: Moderna, Trial phase: 3 and Institution: Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute.
Candidate 2: JNJ-78436735 (formerly Ad26.COV2.S), Mechanism: Non-replicating viral vector, Sponsor: Johnson & Johnson, Trial phase: 3 and Institution: Johnson & Johnson.
Candidate 3: See European.
Two frontrunner vaccines – by Moderna and BioNTech/Pfizer — have already sought emergency use approval on both sides of the Atlantic while John & Johnson’s vaccine is also in phase 3.
Moderna’s vaccine must be kept at -20 degrees Celsius, while Pfizer’s requires an even chillier -70C to remain viable.
Britain:
Candidate: AZD1222, Mechanism: Replication-deficient viral vector vaccine (adenovirus from chimpanzees), Sponsor: The University of Oxford, AstraZeneca, IQVIA, Serum Institute of India, Trial phase: 3 and Institution: The University of Oxford, the Jenner Institute.
With Britain’s announcement that it would begin rolling out its vaccine – the first Western country to give the green light to an immunisation drive against the coronavirus.
Russian:
Candidate: Sputnik V, Mechanism: Non-replicating viral vector, Sponsor: Gamaleya Research Institute, Acellena Contract Drug Research and Development, Trial phase: 3 and Institution: Various.
Russia, which registered two Covid-19 vaccines before trials finished, has said that its Sputnik V vaccine is 95 percent effective according to preliminary data and can be stored in an ordinary fridge.
Chinese:
Candidate 1: CoronaVac, Mechanism: Inactivated vaccine (formalin with alum adjuvant), Sponsor: Sinovac, Trial phase: 3 and Institution: Sinovac Research and Development Co., Ltd.
Beijing-based, Sinovac Biotech, a Nasdaq-listed drugmaker based in Beijing, has signed deals to provide 46 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine to Brazil and 50 million doses to Turkey. It’ll also supply 40 million doses of vaccine bulk — the vaccine concentrate before it is divided into little vials to Indonesia for local production.
Candidate 2: Ad5-nCoV, Mechanism: Recombinant vaccine (adenovirus type 5 vector), Sponsor: CanSino Biologics, Trial phase: 3 and Institution: Tongji Hospital; Wuhan, China.
CanSino Biologics, which developed a coronavirus vaccine with a research unit of the Chinese military, will deliver 35 million doses of its vaccine to Mexico, one of the five host countries of its trials.
Candidate 3: No name announced, Mechanism: Inactivated vaccine, Sponsor: Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm), Trial phase: 3 and Institution: Henan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
China National Biotec Group (CNBG), a unit of state-owned pharmaceutical giant China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm). The company’s two vaccine candidates are undergoing phase 3 trials in 10 countries, mostly in the Middle East and South America. In the United Arab Emirates, Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum volunteered to be vaccinated in trials and the vaccine was approved for emergency use. The Emirati company in partnership with Sinopharm hopes to produce between 75 and 100 million doses next year.
Indian:
Candidate: Covaxin, Mechanism: Inactivated vaccine, Sponsor: Bharat Biotech; National Institute of Virology, Trial phase: 3
Bharat Biotech, a private company that is developing Covaxin with the government-run ICMR, had earlier hoped to launch it only in the second quarter of next year.
Meanwhile, the EU is expected to receive 400 million doses of vaccine from AstraZeneca, 300 million from Sanofi-GSK, 400 million from Johnson and Johnson, 300 million from Pfizer and BioNTech, 405 million from CureVac, and 160 million from Moderna.
