WHO lists 70 vaccines under preparation globally to treat coronavirus

World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a list of 70 vaccines currently under development across the globe to treat coronavirus.              

Out of the total companies, three of them are undergoing human trials, raising hopes for availability of early cure for the infection that has cost thousands of lives globally and brought the worldwide economy to its knees.

The companies undergoing human trials included the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology in collaboration with Hong Kong’s CanSino Bio, and two United States (US) companies including Moderna and Inovio Pharmaceuticals.

A statement issued from WHO said that under the global health body’s coordination, a group of experts with diverse backgrounds is working towards the development of vaccines against COVID-19.

‘The group makes a call to everyone to follow recommendations to prevent the transmission of the COVID-19 virus and protect the health of individuals.’

The Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, working together with Hong Kong’s CanSino Bio, are leading the charge with their vaccine, called Ad5-nCoV.

CanSino Bio said it plans to move to phase II clinical trials with the genetic engineered vaccine candidate in China ‘soon’.

Of the two US-based drugs companies, Massachusetts-based Moderna received regulatory approval to move to human trials last month, while Pennsylvania-based Inovio Pharmaceuticals began human trials last week.

The remaining 67 on WHO’s list are in pre-clinical evaluation at institutes including Osaka University in Japan, the University of Queensland, Australia, and the University of Oxford and Imperial College London.

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The drug industry is hoping to shorten the time it takes to get a vaccine to market – usually about 10 to 15 years – to within the next year.

But public health officials say it will still take a year to 18 months to fully validate any potential vaccine – despite human trials beginning.

The University of Oxford team has previously said that it could have a vaccine ready to go as soon as September.

Researchers there are confident they can roll out a jab for the disease within the next eight months.