Coronavirus vaccines: What we know about testing and availability

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Coronavirus vaccines: What we know about testing and availability
Employee Philipp Hoffmann, of German biopharmaceutical company CureVac, demonstrates research workflow on a vaccine for the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease at a laboratory in Tuebingen, Germany, March 12, 2020. Picture taken on March 12, 2020. REUTERS/Andreas Gebert
  • The World Health Organization says that there are more than 40 research effort to develop a coronavirus vaccine.
  • Two vaccine candidates are already undergoing human testing that could produce a coronavirus vaccine by as early as this fall.
  • Business Insider compiled a list of all the coronavirus vaccine candidates that are undergoing research or human trials.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The drug industry and health officials are now racing to respond to the coronavirus outbreak as cases of COVID-19 mount, and the World Health Organization has declared it a pandemic.

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There are more than 40 ongoing research efforts across the globe to develop a coronavirus vaccine, according to the World Health Organization.

Two vaccine candidates, for instance, have already started human testing in record timing. But it will still take at least a year to determine if any vaccine works against this virus.

Here's is our list of the few vaccines that are undergoing human testing as well as other vaccine candidates that could become available in 2021.

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The small biotech Moderna has leaped to the front of the race, with a vaccine candidate that's being tested in people.

The small biotech Moderna has leaped to the front of the race, with a vaccine candidate that's being tested in people.

Healthy volunteers are now being enrolled in Washington state and Georgia to test the first potential coronavirus vaccine developed by Moderna.

The upstart biotech developed the experimental vaccine in record time, going from sequencing the virus to dosing a patient in roughly two months and says it can have a coronavirus vaccine ready for emergency use this fall.

Read more about how Moderna plans to have its vaccine ready so soon.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals is the second company to start testing a coronavirus vaccine in the US.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals is the second company to start testing a coronavirus vaccine in the US.

The company said on April 6 it has opened a trial for 40 healthy volunteers in Philadelphia and Kansas City, Missouri. Inovio expects early safety results by late summer and is aiming to produce 1 million doses by year's end.

Read more about this vaccine that's been funded by Bill Gates.

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The Chinese biotech CanSino Biological has started a Phase 1 safety trial for its experimental coronavirus vaccine.

The Chinese biotech CanSino Biological has started a Phase 1 safety trial for its experimental coronavirus vaccine.

CanSino is famous for its help on producing an Ebola virus vaccine in 2017. Now, it's working with the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, and the research is funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China. That trial will enroll 108 participants in Wuhan, testing three dose strengths, according to a Chinese clinical trial registry.

Johnson & Johnson will scale up its manufacturing, committing more than $500 million to the project of developing a COVID-19 vaccine.

Johnson & Johnson will scale up its manufacturing, committing more than $500 million to the project of developing a COVID-19 vaccine.

J&J identified a lead vaccine candidate in late March, planning to start human testing by September. The vaccine could gain emergency clearance for use as soon as early 2021, when tens of millions of doses would be available. The company hopes to produce 1 billion doses by the end of 2021.

Read more on how J&J plans to pump out 1 billion doses.

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The French pharma giant Sanofi is taking several different approaches to developing a coronavirus vaccine.

The French pharma giant Sanofi is taking several different approaches to developing a coronavirus vaccine.

The $110 billion drugmaker, Sanofi, has the capacity for mass production. Its manufacturing plants in New York and Pennsylvania could make 100 million to 600 million doses per year.

But the French pharma's timelines are slower than other approaches. The company has forecasted in early 2021 as a reasonable expectation to start human testing for both vaccine projects.

Read more about this French pharma giant's plan.

Pfizer is partnering with BioNTech who's using a messenger RNA platform to quickly develop a candidate vaccine.

Pfizer is partnering with BioNTech who's using a messenger RNA platform to quickly develop a candidate vaccine.

Pfizer is co-developing a COVID-19 vaccine with a German biotech called BioNTech. Pfizer and BioNTech expect to start a human trial of their vaccine by the end of April. The companies are working from their previous collaboration in 2018 to develop a flu shot.

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A German drugmaker called CureVac is aiming to start a Phase 1 trial as soon as June.

A German drugmaker called CureVac is aiming to start a Phase 1 trial as soon as June.

CureVac uses a messenger RNA platform that instructs cells how to make proteins. The unproven technology has shown it can speedily crank out potential vaccines, but has yet to bring a vaccine through approval.

Here's everything you need to know about CureVac.

An experimental vaccine from the University of Queensland researchers is on track to start human testing in the second half of 2020.

An experimental vaccine from the University of Queensland researchers is on track to start human testing in the second half of 2020.

A research team out of the University of Queensland has been granted an additional $10 million from the Queensland state government in order to develop a coronavirus vaccine more quickly. The team said that a vaccine may be available by early 2021.

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A small Danish biotech called ExpreS2ion Biotechnologies aims to start human trials for a coronavirus vaccine within a year.

A small Danish biotech called ExpreS2ion Biotechnologies aims to start human trials for a coronavirus vaccine within a year.

After receiving just under $1 million from the European Union to accelerate the development of a COVID-19 vaccine, ExpreS2ion Biotechnologies will be among dozens of companies conducting human testing by 2021.

GSK and Vir Biotechnology are working on both medical treatments and coronavirus vaccines.

GSK and Vir Biotechnology are working on both medical treatments and coronavirus vaccines.

The British pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline is collaboration with Vir Biotechnology to test a potential medical treatment for patients already sick with COVID-19 within a few months, and then apply their understanding of the virus to vaccine development.

The partnership is aiming to start testing experimental antibody treatments in humans within the next three to five months.

Read more about GSK's race to develop a vaccine.

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