COVID-19 vaccines as of September 2020

Over 165 vaccines against COVID-19 under development and 37 at human clinical trial stage

With over 30 Million global cases of COVID-19 and passing 943,000 deaths – a vaccine could not come soon enough. (view COVID19 global live infection map here).

The good news is there are more than 165 vaccines against COVID-19 under development and 37 are now in human clinical trials. National health reporter Sue Dunlevy, takes a look at the 37 vaccines now in human clinical trials, and their origins.

UK – Oxford University
In September Australia signed a contract to buy 30 million doses of this leading vaccine. Clinical trial results that will prove whether it prevents coronavirus are expected next month and if it works 3.8 million doses will be delivered to Australia in January and February 2021. The first doses will be given to vulnerable people, and front-line health care workers. A further 30 million doses will be manufactured by CSL in monthly batches between January and September 2021. Almost 10,000 UK citizens have been given the vaccine or a dummy vaccine in a clinical trial, and on August 31 the first of 30,000 US citizens received a shot in another trial. Trials are also underway in in Brazil, South Africa. AstraZeneca says it can produce two billion doses. India’s Serum Institute has already produced millions of doses to be used in trials. The Oxford team has a deal with pharmaceutical giant Astra Zeneca to make 30 million doses for the UK, 300 million doses for the US and an Indian manufacturing plant will make 1 billion doses for countries elsewhere in the world. This trial is currently paused due to trial candidates experiencing abnormal reactions.

Australia- University Queensland
The Australian Government has struck a deal to buy 51 million doses of The University of Queensland’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate if it proves successful, it will be manufactured by CSL. The first doses will be available by mid-2021. The vaccine uses a molecular clamp method invented by the university’s scientists and early human safety trials began in July.Experiments on hamsters showed the vaccine protected them from the coronavirus.

US – Moderna
Moderna has reported its vaccine produced virus killing antibodies in all 45 people in a clinical trial. In July Moderna began human trials on 30,000 people in the United States to see if the vaccine prevents coronavirus. Moderna has signed a manufacturing deal with Swiss multinational, chemical and biotechnology company Lonza which aims to produce up to a billion doses per year. The company recently lost a patent dispute over some of their vaccine technology.

China – CanSino Biologics
On June 25 the Chinese military approved the vaccine as a “specially needed drug” for soldiers and it is one of two vaccines currently in use. CanSino Biologics the medical science arm of the People’s Liberation Army reported 108 people injected with its vaccine developed antibodies to the virus. The vaccine uses an adenovirus (which causes the common cold) and because this virus is common in the human population many in the trial had a dampened immune response. In August trials of the vaccine began in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

China – Clover Pharmaceuticals
Chinese company Clover Pharmaceuticals in partnership with GSK began early human safety testing of its vaccine in Australian volunteers in June.

Germany – BioNTech/Pfizer
In July all the volunteers in the early human safety trial of the mRNA vaccine produced antibodies against coronavirus, later that month a trial began in 30,000 people in the United States, Argentina, Brazil, and Germany to test if it prevents infection with the virus. The US Government has a $1.95 billion deal with Pfizer and BioNTech, for 100 million doses of the vaccine. September Pfizer has said it would know if the vaccine works as soon as October. If it works they expect to manufacture over 1.3 billion doses of the vaccine worldwide by the end of 2021.

India – Zydus
Indian vaccine-maker Zydus Cadila launched a Phase 2 human clinical trial of its vaccine on Aug. 6.

Japan – AnGes
Japanese company AnGes announced on July 3 they had begun trials on a DNA-based vaccine, developed in partnership with Osaka University and Takara Bio.

US – Inovio
US company Inovio announced on June 30 human safety trials of its DNA vaccine found no serious adverse effects, and measured an immune response in 34 out of 36 volunteers.

Germany – Curevac
Curevac launched human safety trials of its mRNA vaccine in June it aims to make 100 million vaccine doses by the end of the year. In August it began a Phase 2 human trial. The company is working with Musk’s company Tesla on creating mRNA “micro-factories,” to make billions of doses of the vaccine.

South Korea – Genexine
The South Korean company Genexine began human safety trials of its DNA-based vaccine in June.

US – Novavax
In May Australians were injected with doses of Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine in early safety trials. The company aims to make at least 100 million doses by the end of the year and 1.5 billion next year. U.S. government has struck a $1.6 billion deal with Novavax for 100 million doses. On August 17, they launched a Phase 2 trial in 2,900 people in South Africa to measure the safety and efficacy of the vacine. Larger human trials are expected to start in October. Novavax expects to deliver 100 million doses for use in the United States by the first quarter of 2021. In August the company said it could make well over a billion doses a year for worldwide demand.

UK – Imperial College London
At the end of June, Imperial College London started human trials of its RNA vaccine. Just one litre of its synthetic material will be enough to produce two million doses. They have partnered with Morningside Ventures to manufacture and distribute the vaccine through a new company called VacEquity Global Health.

Russia – Gamaleya Research Institute
Russia’s health ministry registered Sputnik V for human use in the general population on August 11 even before large scale human trials began. The vaccine is being developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute it is a combination of two adenoviruses, Ad5 and Ad26, engineered with a coronavirus gene.

China – Anhui Zhifei Longcom
In June, the company Anhui Zhifei Longcom began human trials in China for a vaccine that is a combination of viral proteins and an adjuvant that stimulates the immune system.

Australia – Vaxine
The Australian company Vaxine launched early human safety trials of a vaccine in July. They successfully completed Phase 1 trials in July and expect to start Phase 2 trials in September. The team was recently awarded funding of $1 million dollars from the Medical research Future Fund.

Canada – Medicago
Medicago injects genes into the leaves of plants to make vaccines, causing the plant cells to create protein shells that mimic viruses. In July it announced it has begun early human safety trials of a COVID-19 vaccine.

China – Sinopharm
Has two COVID-19 vaccines under development. It’s inactivated vaccine is being tested to see if it prevents infection in the United Arab Emirates. It has a second vaccine undergoing early human safety trials.

China – Sinovac Biotech
Announced in June early safety trials of its CoronaVac in 743 human volunteers found no severe adverse effects and produced an immune response. It began a large scale effectiveness trial in Brazil this month (July) and hopes to manufacture up to 100 million doses annually.

China Institute of Medical Biology at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences
The institute started early human safety trials of a COVID-19 vaccine in June.

India – Bharat Biotech
Its vaccine Covaxin uses an inactivated rabies virus engineered to carry proteins from the coronavirus. Human safety began in 300 people in September.

Australia – BCG vaccine
The tuberculosis vaccine BCG is being trialled by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Australia to see if the vaccine partly protects against the coronavirus.

US and Singapore – Arcturus Therapeutics and Duke-NUS Medical School
An mRNA vaccine developed by this group was approved for early stage safety testing in humans on July 21.

US -Johnson and Johnson
Launched early stage safety trials in humans in July and says it can make up to a billion doses in 2021.Experiments in monkeys found the vaccine protected them from coronavirus.Large scale human trials in 60,000 people in Latin America due to start in September.In August, the US government struck a deal to pay $1 billion for 100 million doses if the vaccine is approved.

US- Kentucky BioProcessing
This company is using tobacco leave to produce a vaccine and registered an early safety trial in humans in July.

China – Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Suzhou Abogen Biosciences and Walvax Biotechnology
This company began early safety trials of its COVID-19 vaccine in humans in June.

France Sanofi plus GSK
The company’s mRNA vaccine uses proteins grown inside insect cells it launched an early stage human clinical trial in September and plans large scale trials in December
Even before the trials began Sanofi had negotiated deals to 60 million doses to the UK and 100 million doses to the US if the vaccine succeeds.

Taiwan
Vaccine company Medigen have registered an early human trial of a COVID-19 vaccine to begin in September.

Another Taiwanese company Adimmune won approval for an early stage human trial of its vaccine in August.

Italy
The Italian biotechnology company ReiThera has developed a Covid-19 vaccine based on an common cold virus that infects gorillas. It launched early human trials in late July.

Singapore
US company Arcturus Therapeutics and Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore are developing an mRNA vaccine which produced a strong immune responses in animal experiments. In August human trials began in Singapore General Hospital.

Source:
– Sue Dunlevy is the national health reporter for the Sunday Telegraph, Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, Courier Mail and Adelaide Advertiser.
– Global cases set to top 30m by day’s end. Article published in The Australian by David Ross. 18 September 2020.