the latest on the race to a covid cure

the world health organization (who) has stated that they do not expect a proven vaccine for about 18 months, but that hasn’t stopped many researchers and groups around the world from beginning work on a potential fix to this devastating pandemic.there are a great many vaccines, treatments and protections in development, with more announced almost every day. here at healthing we are watching these developments closely and providing updates daily. currently, there are an estimated 80 vaccines in development or trial by various organizations and institutions. here’s what we have so far:the international vaccine centre at the university of saskatchewan announced work on a vaccine, with human trials currently set for 2021.the university of queensland in australia announced they are looking into the potential of a vaccine that can genetically modify the virus’ proteins to produce an immune reaction.on january 28th, the south china morning post announced that the chinese centre for disease control and prevention and the university of hong kong have started work on a vaccine.american biotech company inovio pharmaceuticals announced work on january 30th, with human trials expected for summer 2020.google deepmind’s ai platform alphafold was put to work creating 3d predictions of the virus’ protein structure to help researchers better understand the infection.washington university in st. louis announced work on vaccine development.the united states army medical research and materiel command (usamrmc) and the walter reed army institute of research in maryland announced work on a vaccine.biotech company emergent solutions inc. announced plans to team with novavax inc., “a clinical-stage vaccine company” for manufacturing of a vaccine. they hope to have a phase i clinical trial by july 2020.quebec-based biotech company medicago reported development of a coronavirus-like particle, which is essentially the virus without its viral elements. it’s in lab research right now, with human trials planned for july or august of this year.the european commission invested 60 million euros in the german biopharmaceutical company curevac to put towards vaccine development. u.s. president donald trump offered the company large sums of money to move production to america, which was declined.scientists at the kaiser permanente washington research institute in seattle gave the first experimental coronavirus vaccine to a participant, 43-year-old jennifer haller.the italian biotech company takis biotech announced on march 17th that they will have pre-clinical trials results by april, with human trials expected in the fall.the french coalition for epidemic preparedness innovations (cepi) announced a development partnership with the non-profit institut pasteur, the austrian themis bioscience and the university of pittsburgh.russian scientists at the vektor state virology and biotechnology centre in the city of novosibirsk announced work on animal testing for six different candidates.imperial college london announced work on a self-amplifying rna vaccine, the candidate for which was developed two weeks after receiving the dna sequence from china.the canadian government announced $275 million for 96 projects advancing medical measures and protections against covid-19. this includes vaccine research like the medicago and university of saskatchewan initiatives.ege university in turkey are developing a native dna vaccine.abc news has reported that researchers at the tulane national primate research centre (tnprc) in louisiana have reached a new stage in their testing of the virus on monkeys.edmonton-based entos pharmaceuticals is taking the gene therapies used for cancer treatments and using them to develop a vaccine. they hope to have the fusogenix vaccine ready for clinical trials in about five weeks.british american tobacco has announced it is developing a plant-based vaccine, after successfully growing an antigen inside a tobacco plant.the u.s. food and drug administration (fda) has approved the first coronavirus antibody test, which will look for antibodies to the virus in a prick of blood.dr. axel lehrer is collaborating on a vaccine with the departments of tropical, medical microbiology and pharmacology at the john a. burns school of medicine in the states along with biopharmaceutical companies soligenix, inc. in new jersey and hawaii biotech, inc.researchers at the ottawa hospital “are exploring more than a dozen different research projects related to covid-19,” including vaccines.halovax, a partnership between companies voltron therapeutics and hoth therapeutics, are preparing to take their vaccine to animal trials this month.the american company altimmune inc., has completed the design of their single-dose intra-nasal vaccine and “is now advancing it toward animal testing and manufacturing.”moderna began phase 1 human trials in mid-march, and hopes to start phase 2 in “spring, perhaps early summer.”bill gates has announced that he will fund billions into the seven most promising vaccine candidates, one of which is the inovio pharmaceuticals trial, which has entered human testing.a team of university of iowa doctors are organizing animal tests for a vaccine.vaccine manufacturer indian immunologicals limited (iil) is partnering with the australian griffifths university to research a vaccine.50 canadian institutions are coming together to conduct a clinical trial to see if the plasma of recovered patients can help immunize against covid-19.the university of iowa and the university of georgia researchers have suggested that a virus that causes kennel cough in dogs could be used to construct vaccines against covid-19.ibio pharmaceuticals has partnered with the seattle-based non-profit infectious disease research institute (idri). the latter will provide will help lead pre-clinical development and clinical trial oversight.the beijing-based sinovac biotech and the wuhan institute of biological products have approved early-stage human tests for two experimental vaccines.university of waterloo researchers are developing a dna-based, non-invasive vaccine delivered as a nasal spray.trudeau announced a $1.1 billion fund for a national research strategy involving a vaccine, testing, modelling and clinical trials. the current plan is for over one million canadians to be tested as part of this.the task force will be led by dr. david naylor, who was chair of the committee that reviewed canada’s response to sars in 2003.vaxart inc., the biotech company, announced that it has obtained positive pre-clinical results for its covid-19 vaccine candidates, with several of the vaccine candidates generating immune responses in all tested animals after a single dose. they remain on track to start a phase 1 study in the second half of the year.pfizer and biontech began testing on humans in germany on april 23 with 12 individuals being administered the vaccine, bnt162, in a phase 1/2 clinical study, according to a joint statement. as testing continues in germany, up to 200 volunteers age 18 to 55 will be given a range of doses to determine the optimal dose for upcoming studies.testing in the u.s. could happen within in the week, after fda approval. the companies say the vaccine could be ready by the fall, with a larger roll-out by the end of the year.other instances of vaccine research and development as compiled by innovative medicines canada (imc) include:abbvie has announced plans to evaluate hiv medicine as covid-19 treatment and has entered into partnerships with health authorities and institutions in various countries to investigate the efficacy and antiviral activity of the medication. abbvie has also allied with industry partners and the innovative medicines initiative to research and identify targeted medicines against covid-19.amgen and the amgen foundation announced on march 23 an initial commitment of up to $12.5-million to support u.s. and global relief efforts to address critical needs in communities impacted by the covid-19 pandemic. the funds will be used to support emergency response efforts in amgen’s u.s. and international communities, patient-focused organizations that are mounting their own response efforts, and international relief efforts by direct relief and international medical corps. the amgen foundation will also match donations made by amgen staff around the globe who wish to contribute their own funds to the relief efforts.astrazeneca, in the global effort to support the fight against covid-19, is donating nine million face masks to support healthcare workers around the world as they respond to the covid-19 (novel coronavirus) global pandemic. astrazeneca has partnered with the world economic forum’s covid action platform, created with the support of the world health organization, to identify countries in greatest need. in addition to these donations, astrazeneca is accelerating the development of its diagnostic testing capabilities to scale-up screening and is also working in partnership with governments on existing screening programmes to supplement testing. astrazeneca’s research and development teams have also been working expeditiously to identify monoclonal antibodies to progress towards clinical trial evaluation as a treatment to prevent covid-19.bayer is donating medicines and additional financial aid worth a total of approximately 1.5-million (eur) to support the population affected by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in china. the donations will be made to the chinese red cross, which is working together with the health authorities to coordinate the deployment of aid measures for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and containment of covid-19. bayer has donated 3 million tablets of the malaria drug resochin to the u.s. government for potential use to treat covid-19. resochin, made of chloroquine phosphate and an approved treatment for malaria, is being evaluated in china for its potential use against covid-19, the disease caused by the fast-spreading coronavirus.boehringer ingelheim is supporting the development of therapies against covid-19. the company is collaborating with the german center for infectious research and take part in a fast-track call from the european union’s innovative medicines initiative to develop therapies and diagnostic tools for covid-19. their global research team is screening their entire molecule library with more than one million compounds to identify novel small molecules with activity against the virus. the same applies for already existing small molecule compounds from boehringer ingelheim’s former antiviral research.emd serono, canada as part of the global effort to investigate potential therapeutics for covid-19, emd serono, canada through its parent company, merck kgaa, darmstadt, germany, has donated a supply of interferon beta-1a (rebif®) to the french institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (inserm) following a request for use in a clinical trial. the trial is sponsored by inserm and its launch has been announced by the french health authorities on march 11. to date, merck kgaa’s interferon beta-1a (rebif) is not approved by any regulatory authority for the treatment of covid-19 or for use as an antiviral agent.glaxosmithkline (gsk) is entering into the new collaborative research effort, the covid-19 therapeutics accelerator. the aim of the accelerator is to bring pharmaceutical companies and expert academic institutions into coordinated research programs, with the aim of bringing the most promising molecules forward that could be used to treat cases of covid-19. gsk will contribute by making available compounds from its libraries for screening for activity against covid-19. in addition, gsk is evaluating its marketed pharmaceutical products and medicines in development to determine if any could be used beyond their current indications in response to the pandemic. the company also expanded their vaccine development collaborations and is now working with five partner companies and research groups across the world, including in the usa and china.johnson & johnson (j&j) has begun research into a vaccine, leveraging the same innovative technology used for the company’s investigational ebola vaccine. janssen, the pharmaceutical arm of j&j, has donated medicines for use in laboratory-based investigations to support efforts in finding a solution against covid-19. janssen is now expanding its collaboration with the u.s. department of health and human services to accelerate their search for a potential covid-19 vaccine.recently, they have said that their human tests will begin in december.lilly entered into an agreement with abcellera to co-develop antibody products for the treatment and prevention of covid-19. the collaboration will leverage abcellera’s rapid pandemic response platform, developed under the darpa pandemic prevention platform (p3) program, along with lilly’s global capabilities for rapid development, manufacturing and distribution of therapeutic antibodies.merck has established a team of scientists to assess internally available antiviral candidates and vaccine assets for potential to impact the covid-19 and related viruses.novartis announced its commitment to donate up to 130 million doses of generic hydroxychloroquine to support the global covid-19 pandemic response. hydroxychloroquine and a related drug, chloroquine, are currently under evaluation in clinical trials for the treatment of covid-19. novartis is supporting ongoing clinical trial efforts and will evaluate needs for additional clinical trials. the company is also exploring further scaling of capacity to increase supply and is committed to working with manufacturers around the world to meet global demand. novartis will work with stakeholders including the world health organization to determine the best distribution of the medicine to ensure broad access to patients most in need of this medicine globally.pfizer and biontech to co-develop potential covid-19 vaccine. the collaboration aims to accelerate development of biontech’s potential first-in-class covid-19 mrna vaccine program, bnt162, which is expected to enter clinical testing by the end of april 2020. the rapid advancement of this collaboration builds on the research and development collaboration into which pfizer and biontech entered in 2018 to develop mrna-based vaccines for prevention of influenza.roche canada has been selected as a participant in a phase iii clinical trial studying the safety and efficacy of one of roche’s portfolio medicines in hospitalized adult patients with severe covid-19 pneumonia. in addition, roche is collecting and compiling data from other, independently-led clinical trials that are taking place around the world. roche is currently working with health canada, public health agency of canada and provincial public labs to align on a strategy for available covid-19 testing solutions, including those provided by roche, according to the needs of various jurisdictions. the company is diligently providing its solutions for covid-19 testing to laboratories and is taking the necessary measures to help reduce the level of pandemic impact.sanofi has plans to announce a new covid-19 initiative and is sharing its expertise and data acquired from other outbreaks with the coalition for epidemic preparedness innovations (cepi), which is working with biotech businesses in developing a vaccine candidate for the virus. in sanofi’s partnership with biomedical advanced research and development authority (barda), they announced plans to leverage some of its previous development work for a sars vaccine, hoping to unlock a fast path forward for developing a vaccine.they’ve since struck a deal with glaxosmithkline plc. the drugmakers said they expect to start clinical trials for the vaccine in the second half of this year. if successful, the vaccine would be available in the second half of 2021.takeda is developing an investigational hyperimmune globulin (h-ig). h-ig has been found to be effective in the treatment of severe acute respiratory infections of viral etiology and may present a potential treatment option for high-risk covid-19 patients, as well as the prevention of infection in healthcare workers at high risk of exposure to sars-cov-2. in addition, takeda is exploring whether select marketed therapies and molecules in its drug library could be viable candidates for the effective treatment of covid-19. these efforts are at an early stage but being given a high priority within the company.multiple members a consortium of life sciences companies announced an important collaboration to accelerate the development, manufacture and delivery of vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments for covid-19 in response to the pandemic alongside bill & melinda gates foundation. the industry brings a range of assets, resources, and expertise needed to identify effective and scalable solutions to the pandemic that is affecting billions worldwide. the impact on health systems, economies, and livelihoods are significant, and effective response requires an unprecedented collaboration across government, academia, private sector, and philanthropy. as a first step, 15 companies have agreed to share their proprietary libraries of molecular compounds that already have some degree of safety and activity data – with the covid-19 therapeutics accelerator launched by the gates foundation, wellcome, and mastercard two weeks ago to quickly screen them for potential against covid-19. successful hits would move rapidly into in vivo trials in as little as two months.this article was last updated on april 30th.if you see something cool that’s happening in covid-19 treatments or vaccine, let us know at  nsokic@postmedia.com