The COVID-19 Vaccine Race: Challenges and Opportunities in Vaccine Formulation

Abstract

In the race for a safe and effective vaccine against coronavirus disease (COVID)-19, pharmaceutical formulation science plays a critical role throughout the development, manufacturing, distribution, and vaccination phases. The proper choice of the type of vaccine, carrier or vector, adjuvant, excipients, dosage form, and route of administration can directly impact not only the immune responses induced and the resultant efficacy against COVID-19, but also the logistics of manufacturing, storing and distributing the vaccine, and mass vaccination. In this review, we described the COVID-19 vaccines that are currently tested in clinical trials and provided in-depth insight into the various types of vaccines, their compositions, advantages, and potential limitations. We also addressed how challenges in vaccine distribution and administration may be alleviated by applying vaccinestabilization strategies and the use of specific mucosal immune response-inducing, noninvasive routes of administration, which must be considered early in the development process.

Challenges in Urology during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…However, there are still no approved vaccines for human coronaviruses. Research groups around the world are accelerating the development of COVID-19 vaccines using various approaches, including vaccination based on subunit, DNA, and mRNA [100].…”

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Worldwide: A Systematic Review of Vaccine Acceptance Rates

“…The latest estimates on COVID-19, pointed to the range of 60-75% immune individuals that would be necessary to halt the forward transmission of the virus and community spread of the virus [68][69][70]. Vaccine cost, effectiveness and duration of protection appear as important factors to achieve such a goal [64,71,72]. However, vaccine hesitancy can be a decisive factor for successful control of the current COVID-19 pandemic [24,73].…”

The 2020 race towards SARS-CoV-2 specific vaccines

“…Inactivated vaccines may require multiple inoculations and strong adjuvants to be effective. The advantages are, however, that development process is well established and streamlined but requires handling of the live virus 47 . At present the most advanced candidates are in phase 3 of the clinical trials, including the Sinovac vaccine (Sinovac Research and Development Co., Ltd./Butantan Institute), and the COVID-19 vaccine produced on Vero cells (Wuhan Institute of Biological Products Co., Ltd./Sinopharm/Beijing Institute of Biological Products Co., Ltd.).…”