COVID-19 vaccines to begin final stage of testing in July
July seems to be a very promising month amid all the chaos that the pandemic has brought about, as companies Moderna and Sinovac Biotech begin the final stage of human testing of their candidate vaccines for COVID-19 in July.
Two candidate vaccines for COVID-19 will begin final stage of testing in July / Source: Pexels
Moderna
U.S. biotech company Moderna has announced that they are ready to begin the Phase 3 study of their COVID-19 candidate vaccine, mRNA-1273, in July.
Moderna and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have been working together in developing their candidate vaccine for COVID-19, using mRNA technology.
The mRNA, or messenger RNA, transfers stored data in the DNA necessary to make the proteins required in every living cell.
Thus, the mRNA vaccine works by instructing a patient's own cells to produce proteins that could prevent, treat, or cure disease.
Moderna's logo / Source: Moderna
Moderna's controlled trial set in July will include 30,000 participants and will be conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH.
In a press release, Moderna said that the primary goal of the trial is to prevent symptomatic COVID-19 disease, while the secondary goals are to prevent severe COVID-19 disease (as defined by the need for hospitalization) and prevent infection by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Sinovac Biotech's CoronaVac / Source: Sinovac Biotech
Sinovac
China-based pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech has announced its partnership with Brazilian pharma Instituto Butantan in conducting the final phase of testing for its COVID-19 candidate vaccine, the CoronaVac.
Sinovac also revealed that the Phase I/II Clinical Trials of CoronaVac have yielded positive preliminary results.
Mr. Weidong Yin, Chairman, President and CEO of Sinovac, said, “Our phase I/II study shows CoronaVac is safe and can induce immune response. Concluding our phase I/II clinical studies with these encouraging results is another significant milestone we have achieved in the fight against COVID-19.”
“We have started to invest in building a manufacturing facility so that we can maximize the number of doses available to protect people from COVID-19. Like with our other vaccines, we are committed to developing CoronaVac for global use as part of our mission of supplying vaccines to eliminate human diseases.”
Sinovac's CorornaVac is an inactivated vaccine, meaning it contains dead or 'killed' sample of the virus, which will help the body develop an immune response to the disease.
This method has been used for decades in developing vaccines for polio, flu, and other diseases.
he fight against COVID-19
Developing a vaccine for the Coronavirus Disease is a race against time, as the more time it takes to test candidate vaccines, the greater the chances are of a second wave to occur.
But with these recent promising developments, it seems like humanity is getting closer to beating COVID-19
Sources:
https://investors.modernatx.com/news-releases/news-release-details/moderna-advances-late-stage-development-its-vaccine-mrna-1273
https://www.modernatx.com/
https://time.com/5852032/moderna-vaccine-phase-3/
http://www.sinovac.com/?optionid=754&auto_id=904
http://www.sinovac.com/?optionid=754&auto_id=903
https://www.theweek.in/news/health/2020/06/15/how-close-are-we-to-a-coronavirus-vaccine-oxford-moderna-sinovac-brazil.html
https://indianexpress.com/article/coronavirus/coronavirus-vaccine-moderna-sinovac-biotech-oxford-johnson-and-johnson-status-check-6458445/
https://www.clinicaltrialsarena.com/news/sinovac-coronavac-data/
For more lifestyle content, head out to GMA's Lifestyle page.
And for updates on the Coronavirus Disease pandemic and the enhanced community quarantine, visit GMA's COVID-19 page and ECQ page.
RELATED CONTENT:
How do COVID-19 survivors' blood plasma donations help save other infected patients?
Eat Bulaga's 'Bawal Judgmental' presents brave COVID-19 survivors