Coronavirus Vaccine Update: When Will a Covid-19 Vaccine Be Ready? These Programs Are Making Progress. – Barron’s

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Social distancing can slow the spread of Covid-19, and new therapeutics could blunt its death toll, but a true return to normalcy is unlikely without a widely-available vaccine.

There are currently at least 47 vaccine programs under way, according to a list kept by the Milken Institute. Below are details on nine of the most notable. Probabilities of success are impossible to gauge, and it will only take one truly successful vaccine to effectively save the world. Here are some to keep an eye on.

Status: Human trials ongoing. First patient dosed on March 16

This is perhaps the most well-known of the Covid-19 vaccine programs. Moderna, a clinical-stage biotech that develops messenger RNA-based vaccines and therapeutics, has already begun dosing patients with its experimental mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine. Heres an overview of the mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine programs.

Status: Human trials to begin in April

The German biotech BioNTech is designing another mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine. It plans to begin clinical trials of the vaccine in April. Outside of China, BioNTech is collaborating on the development of the vaccine with Pfizer. Inside China, the company is working with Fosun Pharma, a Chinese pharmaceutical company.

Status: Human trials to begin in April

Inovios Covid-19 vaccine program drew enormous attention early this year. The company is developing a DNA plasmid vaccine. Inovio says that it plans to start a clinical trial in 30 healthy volunteers in the U.S. next month.

Status: Human trials to begin in late Spring

Novavax, another small biotech that was among the first to announce a Covid-19 vaccine program, is developing a type of recombinant vaccine to prevent Covid-19. In mid-March, it said it had received $4 million to develop the vaccine from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, a coalition of governments and philanthropies. The company says it expects to begin testing the vaccine in humans in late spring.

Status: Human trials to begin in September

Johnson & Johnson, the worlds largest pharmaceutical company, was one of the first drug developers to announce a Covid-19 vaccine program. On Monday, the company said that the vaccine could be available for emergency use early next year, and that it will start manufacturing it immediately. The company is planning to begin testing the drug in humans by September. It said Monday it planned to make the vaccine available on a not-for-profit basis for emergency pandemic use.

Status: Expects to test in humans by end of 2020

Translate and Sanofi are collaborating on another mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine, announced late last week. Ron Renaud, Translates CEO, said Friday he hoped to begin testing the vaccine by the end of this year, and hoped for the vaccine to be approved by the second half of next year.

Status: Expects to begin in vitro testing this summer

In addition to its collaboration with Translate, Sanofi is also working on another, previously announced Covid-19 vaccine effort, this one with funding from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). This program is seeking to develop a recombinant vaccine, as distinct from the mRNA vaccines, and will use Sanofis recombinant DNA platform, which has been used to develop a flu vaccine.

Status: Pre-clinical

Arcturus is working on a Covid-19 vaccine that uses a variation on the messenger RNA approach taken by companies like Moderna and Translate. It is collaborating with the Singapore-based Duke-NUS Medical School, and received a grant for the program from the Singapore Economic Development Board, a government agency.

Status: Pre-clinical

This private German company is also developing an mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine. Drama has surrounded the company in recent weeks, including allegations that Trump administration officials tried to lure the company to move its research to the U.S., plus shuffles among its top leadership.

Write to Josh Nathan-Kazis at josh.nathan-kazis@barrons.com

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Coronavirus Vaccine Update: When Will a Covid-19 Vaccine Be Ready? These Programs Are Making Progress. - Barron's