The vaccines and treatments being tested to cure coronavirus
- 18 Apr 2020
With coronavirus infections surging around the world, researchers are racing to develop a vaccine for treatment.
Round the clock trials to develop vaccines and treatments for coronavirus are being conducted.
Some drugs are already being tested in humans, for instance the US clinical trial of a COVID-19 vaccine at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), while others are edging closer to beginning clinical trials.
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Cepi) has identified 115 Covid-19 vaccines at varying stages of development.
Five of these candidates have moved to clinical development.
What are some of the vaccines that are being worked on?
Scientists at the University of Oxford say a vaccine could be available for use by the general public by September.
Sarah Gilbert, a professor of vaccinology at the university, and her team have already created a potential vaccine that is due to begin human trials within two weeks.
They say nothing can be guaranteed, but something could be available by autumn if everything goes perfectly.
Elsewhere, pharmaceutical companies Sanofi and GSK have teamed up with the hope of making a COVID-19 vaccine available by the middle of next year.
They are hoping to enter a candidate in clinical trials in the second half of this year.
Over in India, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is scheduled to begin clinical trials on the anti-leprosy vaccine called Mw (Mycobacterium w) to see if it can be used as a COVID-19 vaccine.
Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine are working on a fingertip-sized patch that could be a potential vaccine for coronavirus.
In China, CanSino Biologics has started the second phase of testing its vaccine candidate.
Most experts have said it would take 18 months to develop a coronavirus vaccine
And in America, development of a potential vaccine made by the NIH and Moderna Inc is moving along.
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The first person to receive that experimental vaccine last month returned to a Seattle clinic this week for a second dose.
University of Cambridge researchers are also working on a potential vaccine, as are many other institutions across the world.
What work is being done on treatments?
Some of the potential Covid-19 treatments that are being trialled are already used to treat other conditions.
These include:
- Remdesivir, which is in development as an anti-Ebola virus treatment, is being trialled by University College London in patients with severe COVID-19 in hospitals across England and Scotland;
- Lopinavir/ritonavir, which is currently authorised as an anti-HIV medicine;
- Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, which are currently used as treatments against malaria and certain autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis;
- Systemic interferons, and in particular interferon beta, currently authorised to treat diseases such as multiple sclerosis.
And British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has confirmed plans to launch a global clinical trial testing one of its drugs in treating the extreme immune response triggered by COVID-19 in severely ill patients.
