Now some are beginning or approaching the final testing stage. Depending on the results, some companies say their vaccines could be approved for use as early as this year.
The pioneers
Among the first candidate vaccines to begin the final round of testing is one developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca PLC. Experimental intakes from Pfizer Inc. and its partner BioNTech SE, as well as Moderna Inc. are also well advanced.
China National Pharmaceutical Group Co., or Sinopharm, has a Phase 3 vaccine. A vaccine from another Chinese company, CanSino Biologics, is expected to begin fundamental testing soon. But remember, many vaccines that show promise in the first few tests fail during the final round.
the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine is designed to provide protection by delivering into a person’s cells the genetic code for the protruding spikes of the new coronavirus. The cells can then produce the spike proteins, generating an immune response that could fight the coronavirus. The transmission of those genetic instructions is a weakened and harmless version of a virus that causes the common cold in chimpanzees.
In early trials, the vaccine successfully elicited immune responses in humans with only minor side effects. A phase 3 trial that enrolled 30,000 subjects in the US began in August. Other late-stage trials with several thousand volunteers are underway in the UK, Brazil and South Africa.
Production Capacity Estimation: AstraZeneca aims to make two billion doses available worldwide, and has said that one billion may be available this year.
the Modern vaccine it also uses gene-based technology to elicit an immune response, although the code it delivers takes the form of messenger RNA. Those molecules, commonly known as mRNAs, are the body’s molecular messengers that carry DNA instructions to make proteins. The vaccine delivers mRNA to cells to produce the coronavirus spike protein.
Moderna and the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases are testing a two-dose injection. It was the first candidate to enter human testing in the US The vaccine produced an immune response in early-stage testing and was generally well tolerated, with minor side effects seen in test subjects.
End-stage testing is ongoing in the US with a 30,000-person test that could return interim results in the fall. An mRNA vaccine has never been approved for any disease.
Production capacity estimation: 500 million to 1 billion doses per year starting in 2021.
The vaccine developed by Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE it also uses mRNA. In a Phase 1 trial, the vaccine produced neutralizing antibodies that promise to fight the coronavirus, and it was generally well tolerated. Phase 3 trials began in the US In July, they enrolled about 30,000 people and will expand abroad to include around 120 sites.
The US government agreed to pay Pfizer and BioNTech nearly $ 2 billion for 100 million doses. Pfizer aims to seek regulatory approval or an emergency use authorization in October.
Production capacity estimate: Up to 100 million doses worldwide by the end of 2020 and around 1.3 billion by the end of 2021.
State-owned China Sinopharm is developing two vaccines with government agencies, the Wuhan Institute of Biologicals and the Beijing Institute of Biologicals. Both are based on an older vaccine manufacturing technique.
The group has signed agreements to conduct tests in several countries, including Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates. The Wuhan Institute has raised concerns about its safety record, including some of its vaccines for children.
The government says it began what it calls “emergency use” of some of its Covid-19 vaccines on medical workers and border inspection officials in late July. Chinese officials have said their goal is to make a vaccine available to the public before the end of the year.
Production capacity estimation: about 220 million doses a year.
Sinovac, a private Chinese company, began its end-stage trial in July in São Paulo, Brazil, where it is testing its vaccine to take advantage of a higher infection rate. Sinovac also struck a deal with Indonesian state pharmaceutical holding PT Bio Farma to produce up to 250 million doses of vaccines each year for the Indonesian public, according to China’s state news agency.
Production capacity estimation: about 300 million doses a year at a Beijing plant.
The CanSino vaccine is initially targeted at the Chinese military. The Chinese company CanSino developed the vaccine with the military based on a weakened virus behind the common cold. In March, a Phase 1 study was conducted in Wuhan, the first epicenter of Covid-19. The shot was cleared by the government in June for military use for a year.
Production capacity estimate: 100 million to 200 million doses per year as of 2021.
Johnson and Johnson is developing a vaccine that uses a weakened form of a common cold virus, known as adenovirus. A single dose of this vaccine elicited a strong immune response in early animal tests. The company plans to launch a global study of 60,000 people in late September, which could be the largest late-stage clinical trial of a Covid-19 vaccine. The company will carry out the study at nearly 180 locations in the US and eight other countries where transmission rates are high, including Brazil, Chile and South Africa.
Production capacity estimate: 1 billion worldwide by the end of 2021, including 100 million doses for the US, with an option for an additional 200 million and 30 million doses for the UK, with an option for an additional purchase of up to 22 million.
Russian state ownership Gamaleya Research Institute is developing a vaccine based on a combination of two adenoviruses, which it has already tested in volunteers. Russia effectively approved the use of the vaccine in early August, although the injection had not undergone end-stage testing. The Russian government plans for mass vaccination to start in October and will target implementation in high-risk groups, including health workers.
Production capacity estimation: 500 million doses per year, with mass production as of September 2020.
Based in the USA. Novavax Inc. is making a vaccine that consists of two injections given 21 days apart that deliver proteins that resemble the protruding spike of the new coronavirus. The researchers hope that the proteins trigger the production of antibodies and immune cells that can fight the coronavirus.
The injections also contain a component, called an adjuvant, to stimulate the immune response. In Phase 1 trials, the vaccine was generally well tolerated and produced a promising amount of antibodies. Phase 2 testing began in August and the company has said Phase 3 could begin in September.
Production capacity estimate: 100 million doses for use in the US, and delivery will begin later this year. Manufacturing plans for other countries.
This story was published from a news agency feed with no changes to the text.
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