Who’s working on a Covid-19 Vaccine?

Almost everyone! Here’s a breakdown of the 30+ candidates in development (so far), starting with those that are making nucleotide-based vaccines.

Moderna

Boston-based biotech unicorn Moderna is perhaps best known for working on personalized cancer vaccines. But the company has a history of responding to public health threats, including the 2015 Zika outbreak. In collaboration with scientists at the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease, and with funding from CEPI, Moderna has already produced an RNA-based vaccine which codes for a stabilized form of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. On February 24, the company shipped doses of its candidate, mRNA-1273, to the NIAID Vaccine Research Center, where a Phase I safety trial is set to begin as early as April.

CureVac

Like Moderna, crosstown rival CureVac uses lab-made mRNA to spur the production of coronavirus proteins, triggering immune cells to produce antibodies against it. And, like Moderna, it got a grant from CEPI to apply its technology to SARS-CoV-2. CureVac representatives have said the company expects to have a candidate ready for human testing within a few months.

Inovio

This Pennsylvania-based biotech uses a slightly different technology, using DNA instead of RNA to make medicines. It has also received funding from CEPI to develop a DNA-based vaccine against Covid-19. In January, the company started preclinical testing of its candidate, called INO-4800. It has so far produced 3,000 doses for trials to be conducted in patients in the US, China, and South Korea. The first of these is scheduled to begin in the US at the end of April.

Applied DNA Sciences / Takis Biotech

Applied DNA, a New York–based company, announced in March it is partnering with Rome, Italy–based Takis Biotech to deliver its own DNA-based vaccine candidates against Covid-19. The companies plan to have four versions available to test in mice by later this month.

Zydus Cadlia

India-based pharmaceutical firm Zydus Cadila announced in February it had initiated two approaches for developing a Covid-19 vaccine. Like Inovio and Applied DNA, the first involves using a ring of DNA designed to produce coronavirus protein once inside the human body. The second deals with genetically manipulating an attenuated recombinant measles virus so that it will induce antibodies against Covid-19. Company officials have not announced timelines for human testing.

Stermina Therapeutics

This is another mRNA vaccine project, based at Shanghai East Hospital of Tongji University. The CEO of Stermina told Chinese state media at the end of January that manufacturing has already begun, and doses could be ready for human testing sometime in March.

Imperial College London

A team of British scientists are currently testing their own DNA-based vaccine in mice at labs in Imperial College London. The researchers are looking for funding partners to advance the candidate into human testing later this year.

Several other companies are also developing protein-based vaccines. These include:

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)

One of the world’s leading vaccine manufacturers, GSK is lending its technology to a Chinese firm called Clover Biopharmaceuticals to work on a coronavirus vaccine. Through the partnership, Clover will be producing viral proteins, and GSK will be providing its proprietary effectiveness-boosting compounds, known as adjuvants. Neither company has provided a testing timeline.

Novavax

Novavax got a jump on the competition from its previous work developing vaccines against SARS and MERS. The Maryland-based company announced in February that it had generated several candidates comprised of recombinant protein nanoparticles derived from the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Company representatives said they expect to complete animal testing soon and move to the first phase of human trials by the end of spring 2020.

Altimmune

Unlike its competitors, this Maryland-based company is developing a vaccine that gets sprayed into patients’ noses, not injected into their arms. Best known for its nasal-spray flu vaccine, Altimmune announced in February that it had completed the design and prototyping of a vaccine against Covid-19 and is now advancing it toward animal testing and manufacturing for human trials.

Vaxart

This Bay Area biotech is the only one so far developing an oral vaccine against Covid-19. In January, the company announced plans to generate candidates based on the published genome of SARS-CoV-2, but no further timelines have been released.

Expres2ion

This Denmark-based biotech firm is leading a European consortium of vaccine developers to tackle Covid-19. It uses insect cells from fruit flies to produce viral antigens. The company aims to test its candidate vaccine in animal models later this year.

Generex Biotechnology

Four companies in China have contracted with Florida-based Generex to develop a vaccine using the company’s proprietary immune-activating technology. Company representatives say it could have a candidate ready for human trials as early as June.

Vaxil Bio

This Israeli immunotherapy company normally specializes in cancer. But last month representatives announced they had discovered a combination of proteins they believe will be an effective vaccine against Covid-19. The company plans to start manufacturing doses for initial testing and looking for partners to scale up further if that goes well.

iBio

This Texas-based biotech company uses modified relatives of the tobacco plant to grow viral proteins for vaccines. The company is partnering with a Chinese vaccine maker to put its “FastPharming” platform to work on a Covid-19 vaccine. Company officials expect to have a candidate ready for animal testing later this summer.

Baylor College of Medicine / New York Blood Center

Peter Hotez’s group is pushing for funding to test their SARS vaccine against the Covid-19. He says they already have about 20,000 doses ready to be deployed for clinical trials. These researchers are simultaneously working on developing a new vaccine from scratch, based on the binding receptor domain of the new virus, SARS-Cov-2, but that will take several years to develop.

University of Queensland

A team of Australian researchers, with funding from CEPI, have developed a vaccine candidate they say is ready to move forward into human testing. It relies on a “molecular clamp” technology invented in the lab of molecular virologist Keith Chappell, which helps stabilize viral proteins so they have the same shape they’d have on the surface of the virus. The group is now intending to ramp up production for clinical trials.

University of Saskatchewan

Canadian health authorities have given university researchers the green light to start working on a vaccine against Covid-19. They’ve used the virus’s published genome sequence to begin building protein-based candidates and are now waiting for live versions of the virus to begin testing in animal models.

University of Oxford / Advent Srl

A team of researchers at the University of Oxford’s Jenner Institute had been working on a vaccine against MERS, which they quickly tailored to the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. In February, the scientists signed an agreement with Italian vaccine maker Srl to produce the first 1,000 doses of the new vaccine, ChAdOx1, to supply human trials.

And a few more are developing viral vector-based strategies:

Sanofi

One of the so-called Big Four, Sanofi has been working with BARDA since 2004 on pandemic preparedness, including against SARS. The company has expanded this arrangement to focus on a Covid-19 vaccine using the company’s recombinant DNA platform, which involves swapping in parts of the coronavirus’ RNA with genetic material from a harmless virus. Sanofi expects to have a vaccine candidate to test in animals within six months. Human testing could begin sometime in 2021.

Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is expanding on the company’s past work with BARDA to develop an Ebola vaccine to pursue a vaccine against Covid-19. With funding from the government agency, the company’s plan is to deactivate the virus, producing a vaccine that triggers an immune response without causing infection. The company has not released any information regarding development timelines.

Geovax Labs / BravoVax

Atlanta-based GeoVax signed an agreement in January to work with BravoVax, a private company Wuhan, China, to jointly develop a vaccine against Covid-19. Under the collaboration, GeoVax will be providing its proprietary platform—a modified pox virus that can be designed to express viral proteins from SARS-CoV-2.

Tonix

In February, this New York–based biopharma startup announced it is collaborating with the nonprofit Southern Research to develop a live, modified horsepox virus modified to express protein fragments from SARS-CoV-2. Company officials have not released any further timelines.

CanSino Biologics

Chinese vaccine-maker CanSino is reportedly developing a viral vector-based vaccine against Covid-2019 but no further information is available at this time.

Greffex

The CEO of this Houston-based genetic engineering company announced last month that they have completed the design of a vaccine against Covid-19. The company has not released any information about its lead candidate, but Grefex reportedly makes adenovirus-based vector vaccines involving a harmless virus that can be genetically tweaked to express foreign genes, like one for the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.

And last but not least, is the only company attempting to attenuate a live SARS-CoV-2 virus:

Codagenix

This New York–based biotech firm is collaborating with the Serum Institute of India to co-develop a live, attenuated vaccine against Covid-19. Rather than using blunt forces like heat or chemicals to kill the virus, Codagenix uses a “deoptimization” strategy to manipulate the virus into a version that can still replicate but won’t cause disease. The Serum Institute of India will be in charge of the scale-up. Codagenix representatives expect to have a vaccine candidate ready for animal testing this spring, with human testing progressing by this summer.