On April 12, 2020, the World Health Organization shared a public declaration regarding a cooperative effort between scientists, physicians, funders, and manufacturers to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. One major organization helping to finance this process is the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). Between January 11, when the genetic sequence SARS-COV-2 was first publicized, and April, CEPI reported 115 candidate vaccines in the making, 78 active and 37 inactive projects. Among those in the running, backed by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, are Moderna Therapeutics’ mRNA-1273 and Janssen Pharmaceuticals’ Ad26.
The biotechnical and drug development agency Moderna had previously worked with the U.S. National Institutes of Health to push forth a vaccine for MERS-CoV, a different strain of coronavirus which affected over 2,000 individuals in 2014. Having obtained new insights and data from this research, Moderna was able to launch an immediate campaign against COVID-19, gaining approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to commence Phase I clinical trials on March 16. The plan is to use an mRNA-based technological platform for the vaccine, providing significant advantages in flexibility, speed, and efficiency during production.
However, Moderna’s mRNA-based approach is not the only method of vaccine creation being put to the test. This pandemic has resulted in the use of long-range technological platforms such as peptide, viral vector, live attenuated virus, and recombinant protein/DNA. Janssen’s vaccine candidate, recombinant Ad26, has been in the works since January. The hopes for the big pharma and its parent company, Johnson & Johnson, is to rapidly scale and accelerate manufacturing so that the vaccine can be readily available for emergency use by early 2021. Such a response towards an outbreak is unprecedented. The traditional waiting period for a new vaccine has averaged 10 years, and even the accelerated five year response for the first Ebola vaccine sounds drawn-out in comparison. But now, with a global death toll surpassing 100,000, no one seems interested in waiting out the situation for longer than a year.
Of the vaccine candidates recorded under CEPI, 72% are currently being made by private industries. But there is a remaining 28% that is taken up by the academic, non-profit, and public sectors. For example, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine announced on April 2 that it had a potential vaccine ready to be tested on field mice. According to the school’s associate professor of surgery, Andrea Gambotto, its researchers had experience working on MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV in 2004. “We knew exactly where to fight the new virus,” she states. Unlike the experimental Moderna mRNA, “PittCoVacc” is a viral protein that can build immunity, similar to the flu shot. The vaccine will resemble a small-band aid patch that pricks and dissolves into the skin, delivering the protein. The vaccine would be able to sit at room temperature, removing the need for refrigeration in the case of transport and storage. Like the other two vaccines, approval is being sought out from the FDA so that clinical use can begin within the year.
Within the last three months, CEPI has managed to raise over $700 million towards the globalized effort to develop a vaccine. On April 13, the UN Foundation shared $10 million from its COVID-19 Solidarity Response fund. Other charitable bodies and federal governments like those of Canada, the U.K., and Belgium provided their services as well. CEPI still seeks individual and institutional donors to fund their $2 billion goal in hopes that with proper aid and coordination they can ensure rapid testing, large-scale manufacturing, and international access to a vaccine when the time comes.
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