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In addition to the Pfizer / Biontech vaccine that has now been approved, there are other well-known candidate vaccines. An overview.
Biontech / Pfizer: The vaccine, which is now approved in Switzerland, comes from the German biotech company and its American partner Pfizer. Studies with the vaccine showed that the risk of developing Covid-19 is 90 percent lower than without the vaccine. The vaccine is based on a new approach known as messenger RNA (mRNA). Such a vaccine should be able to be produced on a large scale faster than conventional ones, but it also requires more cooling, making logistics difficult. Switzerland obtained three million doses of the vaccine.
Modern: The US group was the second company to publish positive results from its relevant study for approval in November. Consequently, the vaccine, which is also based on the mRNA approach, shows 94.1 percent effectiveness in protecting against Covid-19. The United States government is supporting the project with almost a billion dollars. Moderna was the first company in the world to start a phase I clinical trial with a corona vaccine in mid-March. The decisive phase III efficacy study began in late July with more than 30,000 participants. The Moderna vaccine doses will also be manufactured at Lonza’s Valais plant. Switzerland insured 4.5 million cans.
AstraZeneca: The British pharmaceutical company has also published the results of the study on its candidate vaccine, which it is developing together with the University of Oxford. The interim analysis found that the vaccine was 90 percent effective when half the dose was administered initially, followed by a full dose at least a month later. So the company wanted to improve efficiency. This could delay the approval process. The vaccine is based on a more conventional production method and is a so-called monkey adenovirus-based vector vaccine. Can be stored at refrigerator temperature. Switzerland obtained up to 5.3 million cans from AstraZeneca.
Janssen-Cilag: The German subsidiary of the American health company Johnson & Johnson requested a candidate vector-based vaccine almost simultaneously in Europe and Canada. According to Swissmedic, the Ad26.COV2.S vaccine is a recombinant vector vaccine based on a human adenovirus. The company’s platform is also used to develop and manufacture other vaccines. Vector viruses trigger the production of antibodies against the new coronavirus in human immune cells. The specialty of the remedy is that only one dose should offer sufficient protection.