Billions of people, whose lives have been directly affected by the novel coronavirus, whether they have been infected by it or not, are all waiting for one of the many biotechnology-focused and pharmaceutical companies, that have announced their attempts to develop potential vaccines to battle the disease, to announce the magic antidote.
The competition to come up with a drug or a vaccine, that can put an end to the COVID-19 outbreak, has become more fierce than ever. Several medical companies are embarking on trials and lab tests to present the one ultimate solution to the disease that has disrupted life across the world.
1. CuraVac, Inc.
Everything you need to know about CureVac, the German drugmaker working on a coronavirus vaccine that's at the heart of a US-German controversy https://t.co/njissDpINs
— Business Insider (@businessinsider) March 16, 2020
The German-based bio-pharmaceutical company, focused on developing vaccines related to autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, has announced its plans to apply its technology through stimulating the production of proteins using the Messenger RNA found in human bodies.
The trial, that is expected to start human tests by the summer of 2020, has been funded by the nonprofit Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. CuraVac has also received about €80 million of financial aid from the European Commission.
2. CanSino Biologics
Chinese Vaccine Approved for Human Testing at Virus Epicenter
— Tom Mackenzie (@TomMackenzieTV) March 18, 2020
- Hong Kong-listed CanSino Biologics worked with China military
- Successfully tested on animals, co. says
- Testing on 108 people to continue through end of this yearhttps://t.co/KWrbheFfxO #China #COVIDー19 pic.twitter.com/7YmlVUyJFj
Entering the first stage of trials immediately after receiving approval, the Hong Kong-based bio-pharmaceutical company, has been racing against time to develop an anti-coronavirus vaccine, using the same technology that resulted in developing a successful vaccine against the viral Ebola disease, which spread in West African countries in 2014.
According to HospiMedica International, preclinical animal safety studies have so far demonstrated a good safety profile. About 108 healthy participants are expected to take part in the human-stage of the trial at Wuhan's Tongji Hospital.
The on-going experiment is being conducted in collaboration between CanSino Biologics and the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology.
3. Medicago
Medicago says it uses plant-based technology to develop their vaccines, “which allows for greater quantities to be produced in shorter periods of time.” https://t.co/4gy0p58UnU
— Rachel Lau (@rachel_lau) March 23, 2020
Promising the world large quantities of their vaccine once it's safe for human use, the Quebec City-based company, is producing a virus-like particle that can introduce a plant-based vaccine against COVID-19.
The vaccine is expected to be available to the world by November 2021 if the human trials, planned soon, go as desired.
4. Moderna
Moderna said its experimental vaccine for Covid-19 could be available to a select few as soon as this fall https://t.co/8oc5MWBYJe
— Bloomberg (@business) March 23, 2020
Using the mRNA technology too, this Massachusetts-based company, has already started a healthy-volunteer study cooperating with the National Institutes of Health, hoping to include hundreds of volunteers in the experiment aiming at designing a synthetic strand of messenger RNA that can convince bodily cells to produce antibodies able to fight the novel coronavirus.
5. INOVIO Pharmaceuticals
Inovio Pharmaceuticals’ race to create a vaccine began when the genetic sequence of COVID-19 was posted online by Chinese scientists just weeks after the outbreak was identified. https://t.co/tJfgmAnJ00 pic.twitter.com/kawgGgbtZb
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) March 22, 2020
Researchers at this Pennsylvania-based firm have promptly responded to the need for a vaccine for the coronavirus.
INOVIO efforts have been backed by a $5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation a few weeks ago and up to $9 million from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.
The company is trying to produce about one million doses of its DNA vaccine known as INO-4800 by the end of 2020.
In a recent clinical trial in France, the drug Plaquenil was tested on 24 patients, and after six days, the coronavirus had disappeared in 75% of them - according to French pharmaceutical company Sanofi.https://t.co/9jBnPT2OOM
— Emerald Robinson ✝️ (@EmeraldRobinson) March 19, 2020
While these companies are still experimenting with their prospective vaccines, other companies are also promising soon to be available drugs to patients. Additionally, more and more research centers are joining the efforts to save millions of people from the quickly spreading virus, that has taken the lives of more than 19k people worldwide until this minute.
