Coronavirus vaccine update: GSK all set to develop a plant-based vaccine; China's Sinopharm has started Phase-3 trials of COVID-vaccine

The global toll of confirmed coronavirus cases has crossed the 13 million mark and as of now, 5.72 lakh people have already succumbed to the highly contagious virus. It has been more than six months since the novel coronavirus first emerged in Wuhan, China and it still continues to spread at an exponential rate around the globe. According to the World Health Organization, there seems to be no respite from the highly infectious contagion in the near future and the situation is going to get “worse and worse and worse”. The medical agency maintains that the pandemic is worsening globally and “there will be no return to the old normal for the foreseeable future.”

Even as the deadly virus continues to spread its fang across the globe, medical experts and researchers are working at breakneck speed to find a vaccine fit for human use to battle the contagion. As of now, there are more than 155 vaccine candidates against the SARS-CoV-2 virus and 22 of these have reached the clinical trial stage (human trials). According to the latest updates, vaccine candidates being developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, Chinese company Sinopharm and another Chinese drugmaker Sinovac Biotech have all reached phase three of human trials. Here is the latest update:

CanSino Biologics seems to be one of the front runners in the race to develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus. The vaccine candidate of the Chinese drugmaker has been approved for limited usage for the military in China for a period of one year. Its vaccine candidate Ad5-nCoV is developed using the drugmaker's adenovirus-based viral vector vaccine technology platform.

Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline has joined hands with biopharmaceutical firm Medicago to develop a plant-based coronavirus vaccine candidate. As per the understanding of the collaboration, GSK will manufacture the adjuvant system for the vaccine and combine it with CoVLP (Coronavirus Virus-Like Particles) vaccine candidate of Medicago. In the preclinical trials, a single dose of Medicago’s CoVLP had demonstrated the production of antibodies. It should be noted that GSK has already partnered with Sanofi for the development of a COVID-19 vaccine and is hoping to start clinical trials in September.

After grabbing eyeballs with its successful completion of phase 2 clinical trials, Moderna Inc's phase 3 trials of its vaccine candidate mRNA-1273 has been put on hold due to changes in trial protocols. As of now, there are no new reports of when phase 3 clinical trials will begin as they were previously slated to start on July 9. The highly anticipated last phase of Moderna’s vaccine candidate will be conducted on 30,000 patients. The American drugmaker is still eyeing to start the trials in the month of July and push the vaccine out for public use by early 2021.

Moderna's coronavirus vaccine candidate developed protective antibodies in all the 45 healthy volunteers in the first phase of its trial. According to the researchers, those who were dosed with two doses of vaccine candidate had developed a higher level of protective antibodies when compared to patients who had contracted the disease.

India’s first COVID-19 vaccine candidate already garnered a lot of attention when the ICMR shared plans of launching the vaccine for mass-use by August 15. Being made in collaboration with Bharat Biotech and Indian Council of Medical Research, Covaxin uses an inactive strain of SARS-CoV-2 virus (particles of the virus) to help the body develop protective antibodies against the dead virus. India’s first indigenous vaccine candidate is all set to begin the first phase of clinical trials on 18 selected volunteers in 12 medical institutes across the nation.

Chinese pharmaceutical giant Sinovac Biotech has already commenced Phase 3 of clinical trials in Brazil by partnering with Brazilian vaccine maker, the Instituto Butantan. It will dose 9000 medical professionals who are working in close contact with coronavirus patients to check the safety and efficacy of its vaccine candidate CoronaVac, which is an inactivated vaccine candidate to battle the novel coronavirus. Sinovac Biotech chairman, president and CEO Weidong Yin said, “Our Phase I/II study shows CoronaVac is safe and can induce an immune response. Concluding our Phase I/II clinical studies with these encouraging results is another significant milestone we have achieved in the fight against Covid-19.

While the Russian scientists made headlines on Sunday with their claim of developing the world’s first COVID-19 vaccine, the status of their vaccine candidate still shows Phase 1 of clinical trials as per the World Health Organization. The vaccine candidate developed by Gamalei National Research Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology has cleared Phase 1 of clinical trials on two groups of volunteers and will commence the Phase 2 testing in the mid-July. As per recent reports, Russian scientists are hoping to launch the candidate for civil circulation by the next month.

The state-owned Chiese company became the first vaccine candidate to begin the last stage of clinical trials. China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) has reached an agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the trials for its inactivated agents to battle the SARS-CoV-2 virus have already commenced in the Gulf state. As per Sinopharm's official statement, more than 1,000 employees of the Chinese pharmaceutical company have been dosed with vaccine candidate voluntarily. The results of the same proved that the virus was safe and effective for human use.