Coronavirus vaccine update: From Oxford vaccine trials happening in Brazil to Remdesivir usage, here are all the updates you need to know

With a graded 'unlock' happening in India and many other countries, living with the virus may be the new normal for many of us, as cases continue to rise in a scary manner. The infection rate is about to cross the 7 million mark now, even as experts warn that India may not have seen the peak yet. Till then, medical advancements and developments are in works as scientists work at warp speed to find a preventive remedy, vaccine or cure to stop the rising coronavirus cases. We bring you all the latest updates regarding the same

Moderna Therapeutics' innovate mRNA-1273 vaccine prototypes is seeing developments take place at a lightning speed. The vaccine, which is currently in its second phase of testing is likely to proceed ahead to the third phase of clinical trials, where it plans to involve about 30,000 participants between the ages of 18-55 and those who are at high risk of COVID-19. If all goes well and neccessary results are tabulated, observations of the large scale study will be available by the end of this year, by the time, Moderna has promised to produce "100 million" doses of the said vaccine. The third phase of the trial is likely to begin in the month of July.

Even as the initial phase of testing has shown promising benefits of the vaccine, the availability of insufficient data is making experts bat an eye and pave way for more research to be done.

In the most recent development, Indian drugmaker, Sun Pharmaceuticals began testing a repurposed drug, AQCH as a part of COVID-19 treatment plan. The drug, which is derived from plant-based compounds comes backed with a lot of studies as the makers remain hopeful about getting results by the month of October.

The drug, ACQH, initially used for dengue treatment has shown promising results in in-vitro studies done in trials. Clinical trials for the same will be conducted in 210 patients across 12 centres for a duration of 10 days.

Another leading contender in the race for vaccine development is the vaccine jointly developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca.

The vaccine, which was amongst the earliest ones to reach the clinical trial phase, suffered a setback in the past. However, now, with extensive research, the group has got approval to start human trials in Brazil, which is now, one of the worst affected countries by the COVID-19 pandemic. For the new study, authorities plan to administer the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine to about 1000 front-line warriors (who haven't yet been infected by the disease). To speed up the research, the vaccine makers are hopeful of carrying out both phase I as well as phase II of the clinical trial at the same time.

The news of the clinical trials come even as the British pharma giant announced that things were "on track" to speed up the production of two million promised doses, by the time the results are out. The company has also signed an agreement so that vaccine doses reach low-and middle-income affected nations in time.

Earlier, it was widely reported that the vaccine makers plan to enrol children between the age of 5-12 for the clinical trials of their adenovirus-vector based vaccine. In phase I of the trial, healthy adults between the age of 18-55 were given the dosage to observe side-effects. India's vaccine maker, Serum Institute of India has tied up with the university to speed up vaccine production if all goes according to plan.

Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) has been surrounded by its fair share of controversies ever since it was discovered to be one of the likeable treatment medicine against coronavirus. The anti-malaria drug was recently temporarily suspended as an effective medicine in WHO's solidarity trials after reports emerged about its ineffectiveness. However, new studies have backed up its efficacy and the use of HCQ is now being reevaluated by the WHO and other medical research bodies across the world. However, experimental studies have also found that the drug, which showed benefits in limited trials may not be the best preventive medicine for COVID-19.

On June 01,India allowed the usage of the popular drug, Remdesivir for emergency treatment in critical cases. Remdesivir, produced by Gilead Sciences is being touted as one of the most effective treatment plans right now because of its anti-viral properties. Preliminary trials have shown that patients who were prescribed the direct-acting antiviral drug tend to recover faster than those who were given a placebo drug. However, since it again is an experimental drug, the results cannot be collated unless large scale studies are done. There is also research which has found that the medicine may not give favourable results in patients suffering from a severe form of the disease, or were on ventilator support.

In more promising news, Australian researchers based out of the University of Queensland have reported that they have gotten one step closer to finding a ready cure for COVID-19, hoping to produce 100 million doses of the vaccine by the end of the year. The researchers have collaborated with pharma giant CSL and Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to jointly produce the vaccine, which uses an innovative 'molecular clamp technology'. Early preclinical trials proved that the vaccine was able to spike up the production of healthy antibodies in the body and negate the power of the coronavirus, thereby eradicating the infection. Phase I clinical trials will be started soon

The newest pharma company to enter the coronavirus treatment race is American giant, Eli Lilly, who have joined hands with AbCellera to create an experimental medicine, 'LY-CoV555' to treat COVID-19. The method under is a unique antibody treatment plan wherein a blood sample was procured from one of the first recovered patients in the US. According to reports, the makers have gone ahead with the trials and dosed patients for the same.

The unique antibody therapy was devised in a span of three months when the cases skyrocketed in parts of the US and quickly got the approvals for its usage.

More than five vaccines are currently being produced in the Asian country, with experts claiming that they will have a vaccine ready for the masses by the end of this year or January 2021. The news comes after one of the vaccine makers, Chinese Biopharmaceutical company, Sinovac claimed that they are 99% sure that their vaccine, CoroVac, which works on an inactivated viral strain will work in eliminating the virus. There are plans of conducting stage-III trial of the same in the UK.

India, which is regarded as one of the biggest exporters of vaccines in the world is seeing advancements happen in a positive and fast manner.

More than seven vaccines are under study to find a preventive cure for the novel coronavirus, which is spreading at an alarming rate in the country. Bharat BioTech International Limited has collaborated with the lead medical body in the country, ICMR to produce a vaccine, which is in its "crucial" stage of research. While the makers are tight-lipped about starting human clinical trials, they are extremely hopeful about the working and feasibility of the vaccine.