Review in Stages of Development of Coronavirus Vaccines

Abstract

The COVID-19 vaccine is a biotechnology product designed to provide acquired immunity against
coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). As of September 2020, (320) candidate vaccines are in
development, a (2.5) -fold increase since April, and none of them have completed clinical trials to
prove their safety and efficacy. In September, about (35) vaccine candidates were in clinical research,
(30) of which were in Phase I and II trials, and 6 were in Phase II and III trials. Previous work to
develop a vaccine against coronavirus diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome provided significant knowledge about the structure and function
of coronaviruses, accelerating the rapid development of diverse technology platforms aimed at
producing a COVID-19 vaccine in early 2020. Global Health Organization (WHO), the Coalition for
Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (SEPI), and the Gates Foundation will provide funds and
regulatory resources in the event multiple vaccines are needed to prevent further infection of COVID-
19. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which organized a ($2 billion) global fund
for rapid investment and development of candidate vaccines, indicated in September that clinical data
to support licensing could be available by the end of 2020. On May 4, 2020, WHO organized a
conference call in which it received $8.1 billion from 40 countries to support rapid development of
vaccines to prevent COVID-19 infection. At the same time, the World Health Organization also
announced the publication of a global “symbiosis trial” with the aim of simultaneous evaluation of
several candidate vaccines entering phase II and III clinical trials.