Recently, Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE said that their vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90 percent effective in preventing Covid-19. If approved, it would be the fastest vaccine developed in the history of vaccine research.
BioNTech co-founder and CEO Ugur Sahin said: “The first interim analysis of our global Phase 3 study provides evidence that a vaccine may effectively prevent Covid-19. This is a victory for innovation, science, and a global collaborative effort.”
UPDATE: We are proud to announce, along with @BioNTech_Group, that our mRNA-based #vaccine candidate has, at an interim analysis, demonstrated initial evidence of efficacy against #COVID19 in participants without prior evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
— Pfizer Inc. (@pfizer) November 9, 2020
“Pfizer and BioNTech are continuing to accumulate safety data and currently estimate that a median of two months of safety data following the second (and final) dose of the vaccine candidate – the amount of safety data specified by the FDA in its guidance for potential Emergency Use Authorization – will be available by the third week of November,” the statement said.
What is mRNA technology?
Among the most promising vaccines, two candidates are using mRNA technology. Those experimental vaccines come from American drug-makers Moderna and Pfizer. Pfizer is partnered with German company BioNTech on the project.
“This is basically a vaccine technology that’s based on the genetic sequence of the virus, so that did make it in some ways easier to get started,” says Chris Beyrer, a professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
🧫🔬🧪 mRNA #vaccines are a unique #technology and can be produced more rapidly than conventional vaccines.
Learn more about how Pfizer is developing a potential mRNA vaccine to help prevent #COVID19. pic.twitter.com/wr9Sf34aTv
— Pfizer Inc. (@pfizer) May 8, 2020
Like other vaccines, mRNA vaccines work by training the immune system to recognize a threat like a virus and begin producing antibodies to protect it.
But while traditional vaccines often use inactivated doses of the organisms that cause disease, mRNA vaccines are designed to make the body produce those proteins itself.
Messenger RNA—a molecule that contains instructions for cells to make DNA—is injected into cells. In the case of Covid-19, mRNA vaccines provide instructions for cells to start producing the “spike” protein of the new coronavirus, the protein that helps the virus get into cells. On its own, the spike protein isn’t harmful. But it triggers the immune system to begin a defensive response.
Cold storage is the next big challenge for mRNA vaccine
From reaching the factory to the syringe, making the task of securing “last mile connectivity” and ensuring that nothing goes wrong before the shot is administered is the need of the hour.
The initial vaccine candidates from Pfizer and Moderna are both mRNA vaccines and mRNA is naturally an unstable molecule that is prone to degradation when exposed to temperature fluctuations.
The extremely low temperature required to store the potential mRNA vaccine for coronavirus will pose a big challenge for countries like India, as maintaining such cold chain facilities would be very difficult, said AIIMS Director Dr. Randeep Guleria.
mRNA Technology And India
The Associated Press estimates vaccine storage issues could leave 3 billion people in developing countries without access to a coronavirus vaccine.
This is true of many vaccine types, and the required “cold chain” to get the vaccine to billions of people might limit how accessible it may be in parts of India that lack reliable infrastructure.
Pune-based Gennova Biopharmaceuticals said India’s very own messenger RNA (mRNA)-a based vaccine against Covid-19 focused our approach from day one developing a novel technology to stabilize the mRNA at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, which is much more amenable logistically for vaccine deployment.”