How far along are the coronavirus vaccines? Here’s what we know

Cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, continue to climb and companies across the world are rushing to develop a vaccine to help prevent more cases.

Some are already being tested on humans — including one fast-tracked by the U.S. government — and others are still in the lab.

Here’s what we know about the COVID-19 vaccines being developed across the world — and where they’ll be available.

Moderna

The vaccine, developed by the Seattle-based biotech firm Moderna, was fast-tracked by U.S. health officials and began human trials on March 16, CNBC reported.

The vaccine was created using a genetic platform called mRNA (messenger RNA) and tells the body’s cells to produce a virus protein that is hoped to spark “robust immune response,” according to a news release from the company.

White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said during a Monday briefing that he believes the vaccine will be ready for public distribution in 12 to 18 months.

“If we start seeing an efficacy signal, we may be able to even use a vaccine at the next season,” he said. “So things are going to be very, very different.”

Some experts have called Fauci’s estimates “optimistic,” with vaccines typically taking eight to 10 years to develop, CNN reported.

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Researchers at UPSM announced Thursday that their vaccine, modeled after current flu shots, had been successful in mice, producing enough specific antibodies to neutralize the virus, according to a news release.

The vaccine is administered through a fingertip-sized patch with 400 micro-needles in an effort to increase the vaccine’s potency. The patch is applied like a Band-Aid, the release said.

“We developed this to build on the original scratch method used to deliver the smallpox vaccine to the skin, but as a high-tech version that is more efficient and reproducible patient to patient,” co-senior author Dr. Louis Valco said in the release. “And it’s actually pretty painless — it feels kind of like Velcro.”

Researchers say testing in patients typically takes at least a year, but they’re hoping the clinical development process can be expedited given the vaccine’s success in animals.

University of Oxford

In late March, the University of Oxford in England announced it will soon begin human trials on ChAOx1. Researchers put out a call for over 500 volunteers to test the safety and effectiveness of the coronavirus vaccine.

Meanwhile, production of the vaccine is being ramped up for future potential trials and future use, officials said.

“The scale of this epidemic poses a huge challenge for vaccine manufacturing,” said Sandy Douglas, who is leading the manufacturing project. “We need to follow rigorous safety standards and that takes time. By starting work on large-scale manufacturing immediately, we hope to accelerate the availability of high quality, safe vaccine.”

Johnson & Johnson

The federal government entered a $456 million contract with Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceutical division Janssen in late March to produce a vaccine — the “largest reported amount spent on a vaccine project to date,” Forbes reported.

The company wants to begin human trials of the vaccine by September, with the first doses available in early 2021, according to a news release. Johnson and Johnson hopes to produce 1 billion doses for global supply.

It is partnering with Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Sanofi

In February, French pharmaceutical company Sanofi announced a partnership with the U.S. government to produce a DNA-based vaccine for the coronavirus.

Sanofi has worked on vaccines for the similar SARS virus, which “provides a head start in expediting a COVID-19 vaccine,” the company says.

Human trials haven’t started, but they’re expected to this month, ABC News reported.

CanSinoBIO

The Chinese biotechnology company announced last month that its Recombinant Novel Coronavirus Vaccine, co-developed with the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, had been approved by the Chinese government to enter a Phase 1 clinical trial, according to a news release.

It’s the first vaccine to reach the Phase 1 stage in China.

Previously the vaccine had been tested in animals and induced “strong immune response,” the release said.

The vaccine is built upon CanSinoBIO’s “adenovirus-based viral vector vaccine technology platform” that was used to develop a vaccine for Ebola, according to the release.

Arcturus Therapeutics

The RNA medicines company based in San Diego partnered with Duke-NUS Medical School to develop a COVID-19 vaccine for use in Singapore, the company said in a news release.

Duke-NUS Medical School is a partnership between Duke University and the National University of Singapore.

President and CEO Joseph Payne told KFMB he hopes the vaccine will only require a single injection and no booster, according to the outlet.

“Our approach is self-replicating RNA, which means we inject a very tiny amount into your arm and it creates the antigen for a few weeks and continues to do,” he told KMFB.

Payne said he aims to have the vaccine ready for clinical trials this year, calling it an “ambitious challenge,” according to the outlet.

BioNTech

The Germany-based company and Pfizer are co-developing a coronavirus vaccine expected to enter clinical trials by the end of April, the company said in a news release.

The vaccine builds off the two companies’ 2018 research and development of mRNA-based vaccines for influenza, the release said.

“In joining forces with our partner Pfizer, we believe we can accelerate our effort to bring a COVID-19 vaccine to people around the world who need it,” Ceo and BioNTech co-founder Ugur Sahin said in the release.

The vaccine is expected to be distributed worldwide, excluding China.

CureVac

The biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Germany is developing an mRNA-based coronavirus vaccine to help patients worldwide, the company said in a news release.

“At this time, CureVac is working on expanding its manufacturing capacities to be able to provide up to billions of doses for outbreak situations like Covid-19,” the release said.

CureVac aims to begin clinical trials by June, Labiotech reported.

Last month, rumors swirled that the Trump administration had tried to acquire the company, prompting acting CEO Franz-Werner Haas to respond, according to Business Insider.

“There was and there is no takeover offer from the White House or governmental authorities. Neither to the technology nor to CureVac at all as a company,” Haas said on a conference call with investors, the outlet reported.

Clover Pharmaceuticals

China-based company Clover Pharmaceuticals is developing COVID-19 S-Trimer. The protein-based vaccine is in pre-clinical trials.

The company is combining the vaccine with an “adjuvant” produced by Dynavax. An adjuvant is used in some vaccines to improve immunity and reduce the amount of antigen required in every dose — which is important in a pandemic.

GlaxoSmithKline also is providing its adjuvants to Clover Pharmaceuticals.

“Having one of the largest in-house, commercial-scale … biomanufacturing capabilities in China, Clover could potentially rapidly scale-up and produce large-quantities of a new coronavirus vaccine,” Clover said in a news release.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals

Pennsylvania-based Inovia Pharmaceuticals Inc. is developing INO-4800, a DNA vaccine. In early March, it announced plans to start human trials in April and production of 1 million doses by the end of the year.

Last week, the company announced the U.S. Department of Defense awarded Ology Bioservices an $11.9 million grant to “rapidly” produce vaccines for clinical trials for the military.

“This partnership increases Inovio’s manufacturing capabilities for our COVID vaccine and establishes an additional DNA vaccine manufacturing facility to protect the U.S. military against current and future disease outbreaks,” Inovio CEO and President J. Joseph Kim said in a news release.

This story was originally published April 2, 2020 at 2:57 PM with the headline "How far along are the coronavirus vaccines? Here’s what we know."