Global COVID-19 vaccine race: 10 candidates in human trials, UK still in the lead

British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is set to "roll out" Oxford's COVID-19 vaccine candidate in the months of September or October. Read to know the other frontrunners in the race.

The UK is apparently at the forefront in the global search for a vaccine against the novel coronavirus. British drugmaker AstraZeneca, who has joined hands with the University of Oxford to find a cure for COVID-19, is ready to "roll out" their vaccine candidate for the masses in the next three months. Oxford's adenovirus vaccine, named AZD1222, was one of the first prototypes to reach the clinical trial stage and the first to enter phase 3 studies. The researchers developing the drug are confident that they would be able to release the vaccine candidate for the masses in the months of September or October. AstraZeneca has already started mass production of the vaccine, with production of two million doses underway.

The Cambridge-based company has also signed pacts with the US, UK for vaccine production. As per media reports, it has agreed to produce up to 400 million doses for America, 100 million for the United Kingdom and more for developing and low-income countries if the human trials prove successful. AstraZeneca also revealed that it has begun making the AZD1222 jab in factories in the UK, Switzerland, Norway and India.

How the Oxford vaccine works

Oxford's AZD1222 jab, formerly known as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, is made from a weakened version of a common cold virus (adenovirus) that causes infections in chimpanzees. The virus was genetically modified to stop replicating it in humans. According to the researchers, the vaccine will enable the body to recognise and develop an immune response against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, thereby stopping it from entering human cells and preventing infection. The UK government had in April announced a 20 million pounds funding for the Oxford project.

Now, the Oxford scientists have also reportedly received approvals to start mid-scale trials of their COVID-19 vaccine in Brazil, which is one of the worst affected countries in the world. According to a statement from the team, they are expecting the data by the end of the summer (August) after which they will know whether the AZD1222 vaccine is really effective against the novel coronavirus or not.

Other frontrunners in the race

U.S. drug company Moderna is among the leading developers testing vaccines on humans. Its mRNA-1273 vaccine is currently in crucial phase 2 trials. The company is conducting the human trials of their experimental coronavirus vaccine along with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

Rather than using a weakened SARS-CoV-2 virus to transport the code, the mRNA vaccine uses a synthetic lipid nanoparticle to carry mRNA templates. However, like other candidates that are in development, it trains the immune system to recognise the COVID-19 virus' spike protein, which the virus uses to bind to and enter host cells.

Meanwhile, China's top coronavirus expert Dr Zhong Nanshan has claimed that the country could have a COVID-19 vaccine for 'emergency use' as early as this autumn. According to a government white paper published on Sunday, at least five vaccines developed by Chinese scientists are undergoing human trials. The white paper titled "Fighting COVID-19: China in Action" stated that the country's researchers are using five technical routes to develop COVID-19 vaccines - inactivated vaccines, recombinant protein vaccines, attenuated influenza virus vaccines, adenoviral vector vaccines and nucleic acid vaccines.

Currently, more than 120 COVID-19 vaccines are under development across the world as per the WHO. Of which, 10 vaccine candidates are already in human trials - four in the US, five in China, and one in the UK.

BioNTech and Pfizer, Novavax, Sinovac, CanSino Biologics and Inovio Pharmaceuticals are among other companies leading the global COVID-19 vaccine race.