Hypothetical vaccine against COVID-19
A COVID-19 vaccine is a hypothetical vaccine against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19). Although no vaccine has completed clinical trials, there are multiple attempts in progress to develop such a vaccine. In late February 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it did not expect a vaccine against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative virus, to become available in less than 18 months. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) – which is organizing a US$2 billion worldwide fund for rapid investment and development of vaccine candidates – indicated in April that a vaccine may be available under emergency use protocols in less than 12 months or by early 2021.
In April 2020, 115 vaccine candidates were in with five having been initiated in Phase I-II safety and efficacy studies in human subjects, and six in Phase I trials.
COVID-19 was identified in December 2019. A major outbreak spread around the world in 2020, leading to considerable investment and research activity to develop a vaccine. Many organizations are using published genomes to develop possible vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration announced its intent "to use all of the regulatory flexibility granted to it by Congress to ensure the most efficient and timely development of vaccines to fight COVID‑19."
Some 100 organizations or companies are involved in vaccine development. The BioHealth Capital Region, which is the 4th largest biopharma cluster in the United States, has 8 companies directly contributing to COVID-19 vaccine progress. Five hundred clinical studies worldwide, across all stages of development on vaccine and therapeutic candidates for COVID‑19, were registered with the World Health Organization Clinical Trial Registry, as of March 2020.
In early March 2020, CEPI announced a US$2 billion funding goal in a global partnership between public, private, philanthropic, and civil society organisations to accelerate development of COVID‑19 vaccines, with commitments to date by the governments of Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, and the UK. In March-April, the Canadian Government initiated a CA$1.3 billion innovation fund for vaccine research, development, and clinical trials through 2022.
Stated in April, imperatives of the CEPI initiative for vaccine development are speed, manufacturing capacity, deployment at scale, and global access.
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