Latest on global search for coronavirus vaccine: Three candidates show early promise - MSN Money
Replay Video
An all-out global race to develop a safe vaccine against coronavirus is underway. The stakes couldn't be higher: an effective vaccine or treatment against the virus that causes COVID-19 is necessary to fully restart economies and resume civic life.
As the pace accelerates, USA TODAY is rounding up some of the week's most notable vaccine developments.
They include a massive contract by the U.S. government to get dibs on a possible vaccine that may or may not work, very early but promising news on two different vaccine candidates, one from China and one from the United States, and a caution that sometimes biology can't be sped up as much as we might want.
Given all the discussion of a coronavirus vaccine in the news, it can be difficult to remember a crucial fact was missing — whether people who have recovered from COVID-19 were immune to getting it again.
If protective immunity was possible, a vaccine was also likely possible. Until this week that hadn’t been established, even in animals.
Not all viruses generate natural protective immunity, so scientists had worried people could potentially be infected over and over again. The monkey data makes that seem less likely.
“Our findings increase optimism that the development of COVID-19 vaccines will be possible,” said the study’s leader, Dr. Dan Barouch, a virologist who is also a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Chinese vaccine shows early promise
Chinese researchers on Friday published a study in the British medical journal The Lancet on an early candidate vaccine tested on 108 healthy adults in Wuhan, China.
Within two weeks of getting the vaccine, the immune systems of people receiving all three doses showed some level of response, with most developing a type of antibody that can attach to the virus, though not necessarily destroy it. Some also developed so-called neutralizing antibodies, which can kill the virus.
The vaccine is from CanSino Biologics in Tianjin, China. The trial is in the early stages and it is not yet known if the possible vaccine can generate enough of these neutralizing antibodies to protect people against the virus.
The candidate vaccine is scheduled to be tested in Canada soon. The Canadian Center for Vaccinology is working with CanSino and Canada’s National Research Council to coordinate the trial. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement during a press briefing.
CanSino chairman Xuefeng Yu worked in Canada from 1996 to 2009.
$1.2 billion for first dibs on untried vaccine
On Thursday the United States has pledged to pay as much as $1.2 billion to get early access to 300 million doses of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine being developed and tested in England by the University of Oxford’s Jenner Institute and licensed to British drugmaker AstraZeneca.
It is expected to be delivered as early as October, though that means only that the doses will be stored until the vaccine completes clinical trials ensuring it is safe and effective in protecting against COVID-19 infection. If it isn't, they'll be destroyed.
A boy walks in front of graffiti promoting the fight against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Mathare slums of Nairobi, Kenya, May 22, 2020.
A manicurist paints a client's nails from behind a clear, plastic wall and wears a face mask, hat and gloves as a precaution amid the new coronavirus pandemic at a nail salon in La Paz, Bolivia, Friday, May 22, 2020.
Municipal workers cross a road on their way to disinfect apartment buildings to combat the spread of the coronavirus infection in Bucharest, Romania, Friday, May 22, 2020.
Masked customers inside Café Valparaiso, a neighborhood cafe and restaurant, during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic on May 22, 2020 in Estoril, Portugal.
A man wears a face mask as waits to visit his relative who is hospitalized at Ciudad Deportiva provisional hospital, on May 22, 2020, in Mexico City.
Indonesian police patrol a market area as they conduct an operation against clothing vendors defying a partial lockdown against the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, and ahead of Eid al-Fitr celebrations, which mark the conclusion of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Jakarta, Indonesia, on May 22, 2020.
People go through a disinfection chamber in front of a shopping mall to buy clothes ahead of the Eid-Al-Fitr festival, which is marks end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, during a lockdown following the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on May 22, 2020.
Trucks are parked in a queue at the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, after Nicaragua's government closed the border for freight traffic, during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Penas Blancas, Costa Rica, May 21, 2020.
People commute on a bus during morning rush hour in Beijing on May 22. China took the rare move of not setting an annual growth target this year after the coronavirus battered the world's second-largest economy and ravaged global growth, Premier Li Keqiang said, on May 22.
Volunteer clowns distribute clothes and toys to children for the upcoming Eid al-Fitr festival alongside complying coronavirus pandemic restrictions in Mersin, Turkey on May 22.
Dean Ekkehard Schmid (centre), the Holy Blood Rider, holds the Holy Blood relic in his hand in Weingarten, Germany, on May 22.. Because of the Corona pandemic, only three riders and their altar boys are moving from the basilica to a hall altar outside the city.
The face of a graduating student is displayed on a tablet attached to a robot during a "cyber graduation" ceremony at a school on May 22, in Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines. Robots represented some 179 graduating students of the Senator Rene Cayetano Science and Technology High School during a graduation ceremony that was streamed online, as mass gatherings remain prohibited in the country.
A healthcare worker wearing protective suit is seen in a state hospital in Moscow, Russia on May 22. Russia remains second-worst-hit country globally, with 326,448 coronavirus cases.
Indian nationals after returning from Vancouver city in Canada with a special flight queue before boarding buses taking them to a quarantine facility in Jalandhar, at Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport on the outskirts of Amritsar, India, on May 22.
A group of North African migrants wait to disembark from the rescue boat on their arrival at the port of Motril on May 22, in Motril, Spain. During the coronavirus outbreak rescues at sea have reduced in number, but since the reduction of lockdown measures, migration routes have now opened again.
An attendant serves tea for officials at the opening session of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on May 22.
Alex Montagano demonstrates his "Hugging Station" with neighbour Sharon Pearce-Anderson, that he built to embrace family members amid the coronavirus precautions in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on May 21.
Personnel from the Secretary of Health of the Municipality of Quito take samples for the diagnostic test for coronavirus from the health personnel who will attend the Temporary Center 'Quito Solidario', installed in the Metropolitan Convention Center of Quito, Ecuador, on May 21.
A man holds a blanket to collect food donations passed down from the balcony of an apartment as part of a program to help low income households in Mexico City, Mexico, on May 21.
Members of the public and NHS workers react at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital during the Clap for our Carers campaign in support of the NHS, in London, England, on May 21.
A couple are served their pizzas outside of a restaurant by a waiter wearing protective face masks and gloves on a hot afternoon in Rome, which is gradually getting back to normal after further lifting of the Coronavirus lockdown in Italy, on May 21.
A mother holds her newly born baby during the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, at the post-natal lactation room at the Medellin General Hospital, in Colombia, on May 21.
Personnel from Guatemala's health ministry perform a test on a woman at a fresh produce market, in Guatemala City, Guatemala, on May 21.
Pedestrians walk past a mural depicting various forms of transportation after the government eased lockdown, in Mumbai, India, on May 21.
Workers prepare a face mask exhibition at the National Museum, in Prague, Czech Republic, on May 21.
Health workers talk to a resident as they screen her for the coronavirus during lockdown, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on May 21.
A swimmer jumps into water during the opening day of a public open-air pool, in Cologne, Germany, on a warm and sunny day, on May 21.
Several families cook at the Altos de la Estancia neighborhood, where there have been several evictions during the last three weeks, in Bogota, Colombia, on May 20.
Francini Cafe De Colombia owner Francini Osorio serves customers in a trial phase during lockdown, in Worcester, England, on May 21.
People throng the beach on Ascension Day at Scheveningen, in The Hague, Netherlands, on May 21.
A shopper pushes the pedals of a foot-operated elevator at Seacon Square shopping mall, in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 20.
People eat lunch behind protective plastic barriers on the table between diners on May 20, in Seoul, South Korea.
Chinese President Xi Jinping greets officials wearing face masks, as he arrives for the opening session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at the Great Hall of the People on May 21, in Beijing, China.
Hand sanitizer is seen between a cocktail and a beer tap on May 21, in Christchurch, New Zealand.
A security guard scans the body temperature of an employee, as another uses tweezers to hand her a face mask, as the employee arrives for her shift on May 20, in Codogno, southeast of Milan, Italy.
Migrant workers and families line up to register for a train going to their native places after the government eased a nationwide lockdown on May 20, in New Delhi, India.
Display mannequins are placed between customers at the Cafe Livres in Essen, Germany, on May 20.
A health care worker, left, writes on a sample of a specimen bottle while a resident of Eastleigh waits in the queue to be tested during a mass testing exercise for the COVID-19 coronavirus in Nairobi, Kenya, on May 20.
A man looks at an installation displaying images of Uruguayan outstanding figures holding a sign with the picture of disappeared during the dictatorship between 1973 and 1985. This has been set up in the framework of the commemoration of the Marcha del Silencio, which due to restrictions on the COVID-19 pandemic, is being held virtually through social media and street interventions, in Montevideo, on May 20.
NYPD officers and Batman stand in Times Square during the coronavirus pandemic, on May 20.
Belgium Liliana Van Dyck, 85, keeping social distance to protect against coronavirus, says goodbye to her son Marc. This was at the end of his visit during a partial lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus, at the Les Jardin D'astrid rest home for elderly people in Maurage, Belgium, on May 20.
Women carry bags of maize meal on their heads as people queue to receive food aid amid the spread of the coronavirus outbreak in Pretoria, South Africa, on May 20.
People sit in a restaurant's outdoor seating area at the Navigli, a system of navigable and interconnected canals, in Milan, Italy, on May 20. Italy is gradually easing lockdown measures implemented to stem the pandemic.
Iraqi itinerant barber Hussain Majid, right, wears a face mask as he gives a haircut to a client at his house, in Baghdad, Iraq, on May 20. Hair cutting of clients at their homes is a precaution that barbers are taking, to earn a living during the pandemic in Iraq after the authorities have closed salons and other commercial activities to prevent the disease.
View of the fishing market at Manaus port, on May 20, in Manaus, Brazil. This traditional trade area in the Amazonas region remains in operation despite the pandemic.
A Bosnian woman reads a newspaper in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on May 20.
A woman uses her phone while on a lounge chair at the Jumeirah al-Naseem beach, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on May 20, as the lockdown measures are eased in the Gulf emirate.
Men sleep atop packets of sachet water arranged in a truck driven through a market in Mafoluku district of Lagos, Nigeria, on May 20. With Lagos as the epicenter of the pandemic in Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa has a record of 6,401 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, according the data shown on the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control website.
A school nurse demonstrates the proper way of cleaning hands with hydroalcoholic gel to a student at the entrance of the College Rosa Parks school during its reopening in Nantes, France, on May 20.
49/49 SLIDES
Slideshow by photo services
The vaccine is still in very early clinical trials in humans and is being tested for safety, whether it produces antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and whether it protects the immunized from becoming infected with the virus. The first tests began in England on April 23.
Last week Oxford reported that a single dose of the vaccine caused six rhesus macaque monkeys to develop antibodies to coronavirus within 28 days but did not protect them from becoming infected with COVID-19.
The vaccine, called ChAdOx1, did prevent them from developing pneumonia and lung inflammatory disease when the animals were exposed to the virus.
Moderna vaccine appears safe
On Monday, Moderna announced its candidate vaccine appeared to be safe when given to eight humans and that it stimulated an immune response to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Experts called it a "so far, so good" finding.
Participants in Phase 1 clinical trial tests made neutralizing antibodies to the virus. When tested on human cells in the laboratory the antibodies stopped the virus from reproducing.
After two doses of the candidate vaccine, participants' antibody levels were about the same as in people who have recovered from a COVID-19 infection.
There is no data yet on whether the candidate vaccine protects against becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2.
While many advocates have suggested fast-tracking vaccine trials in humans, deputy editor Douglas Green says while clinical trials, especially the large-scale Phase III portion, are time-consuming, they are vital to ensuring a vaccine is safe and effective.
All the vaccine candidates that have been in the news so far are in Phase 1 and Phase 2, meant to test that the vaccine itself doesn't cause reactions and that it causes the body to mount an immune response.
Moving too fast on Phase 3 could be "catastrophic," Green wrote. There are examples of preliminary vaccines that produced neutralizing antibodies but when large trials were conducted they made infections worse.
That happened in a 1966 trial of a vaccine against Respiratory Syncytial Virus, RVS. Subjects who got the vaccine actually did worse when infected with the virus. Green cautions that many scientists believe proper testing will mean an effective vaccine won't be widely available for 12 to 18 months.
He quoted cancer biologist Charles Sherr, who told him, “Fast is slow, and slow is fast.”
No comments:
Post a Comment