Amid the race to develop a ‘potential’ vaccine against novel coronavirus pandemic, Pfizer says an early peek at its vaccine data suggests the shots maybe 90 percent effective at preventing Covid-19, indicating the company is on track later this month to file an emergency use application with U.S. regulators.
Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE are the first drugmakers to show successful data from a large-scale clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine. The companies said they have so far found no serious safety concerns.
The race for the Covid-19 vaccine is on with numerous vaccine candidates at different stages of trials across the world. Even if the Covid-19 vaccines are being developed at record speeds in hope of ending the pandemic, but according to experts it can typically take 10 to 15 years to bring a vaccine to market.
The vaccines of many leading candidates are based on new, largely unproven techniques like messenger RNA (mRNA) technology or inactivated cold virus platforms.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 150 Covid-19 vaccines are presently in development, with around 44 candidates in clinical trials and 11 undergoing late-stage testing.
More than 160 potential vaccine candidates around the world progressing towards successful vaccine trials across the globe.
Moderna, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Covaxin, Johnson & Johnson are some prominent names from India that are in the race of mass-producing vaccines once the trials are completed successfully.
Here is the status of some other prominent Covid-19 vaccines-
- Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine
UK-based Oxford and AstraZeneca’s vaccine is also in late-stage trial data for Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine is also expected to come out later this month, following which British regulators will review the data and give necessary approvals for releasing it for emergency use.
Oxford, the vaccine is working in the elderly and vulnerable population which was a concern as well. According to officials the trials should be over by December.
- Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine
Johnson & Johnson has said that the first batches of its COVID-19 vaccine could be available as soon as in January.
The company also said on 23rd October that it plans to restart a large late-stage trial of the vaccine that had been paused due to safety concerns. The 60,000-person study is expected to have initial results by the end of the year.
- MODERNA Coronavirus vaccine
US biotechnology company Moderna, whose mRNA-1273 vaccine is undergoing phase-3 clinical trials in the United States on 30,000 participants, has said it might seek emergency-use authorisation (EUA) after November 25 once it had enough safety data.
Moderna is expected to report initial results from its large-scale trial later this month. “It’s likely that we’re going to have more than one vaccine that’s effective,” said Dr Anthony Fauci, US’s top infectious diseases expert.
- Covaxin coronavirus vaccine
COVAXIN, which is India’s first indigenous vaccine against coronavirus, could come as early as February 2021 as the last-stage trials have started this month and trial results have so far shown it is effective and safe, said a senior government scientist.
“Covaxin was found to be safe without any major adverse events in the first two stages of the trials involving about 1,000 participants. Having received the approval from DCGI after assessing data from phase 1 and 2 trials, as well as the results of animal challenge study, we have moved into the last phase of trials,” Sai Prasad, Executive Director, Bharat Biotech, told IANS.
The inactivated vaccine is being developed by Bharat Biotech in partnership with the Indian Council of Medical Research.