Vaccine Candidates against Coronavirus Infections. Where Does COVID-19 Stand?

Abstract

Seven years after the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak, a new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) made its first appearance in a food market in Wuhan, China, drawing an entirely new course to our lives. As the virus belongs to the same genus of MERS and SARS, researchers have been trying to draw lessons from previous outbreaks to find a potential cure. Although there were five Phase I human vaccine trials against SARS and MERS, the lack of data in humans provided us with limited benchmarks that could help us design a new vaccine for Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this review, we showcase the similarities in structures of virus components between SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2 in areas relevant to vaccine design. Using the ClinicalTrials.gov and World Health Organization (WHO) databases, we shed light on the 16 current approved clinical trials worldwide in search for a COVID-19 vaccine. The different vaccine platforms being tested are Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccines, DNA and RNA-based vaccines, inactivated vaccines, protein subunits, and viral vectors. By thoroughly analyzing different trials and platforms, we also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using each type of vaccine and how they can contribute to the design of an adequate vaccine for COVID-19. Studying past efforts invested in conducting vaccine trials for MERS and SARS will provide vital insights regarding the best approach to designing an effective vaccine against COVID-19.

Prediction and Analysis of SARS-CoV-2-Targeting MicroRNA in Human Lung Epithelium

“…Antibody-based treatments are also being investigated as potential drug candidates [ 3 , 4 ]. Additionally, there are numerous clinical trials in progress for potential vaccines of various platforms, ranging from DNA vaccines to inactivated virus vaccines [ 4 , 5 ]. With no signs of the virus slowing to date, there is an urgent need to develop vaccines, novel drug therapies and new strategies to combat this and future pandemics due to coronaviruses.…”

Mosaic vaccination: how distributing different vaccines across a population could improve epidemic control

“…It is interesting to consider our results in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, given the rapid and parallel development of dozens of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 [25][26][27]. While many COVID-19 vaccines in development target the same spike protein, some target epitopes in other genes [26] and the potential for multi-epitope (i.e., cocktail) vaccines is being investigated (e.g., [28][29][30][31]).…”

“…It is interesting to consider our results in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, given the rapid and parallel development of dozens of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 [25][26][27]. While many COVID-19 vaccines in development target the same spike protein, some target epitopes in other genes [26] and the potential for multi-epitope (i.e., cocktail) vaccines is being investigated (e.g., [28][29][30][31]). If in the future multiple COVID-19 vaccines were approved with similar efficacies (i.e., roughly equal protection against the predominant circulating strain), then our results suggest that to minimize the risk of evolutionary escape and reduce the total number of individuals who get infected, the vaccines should be used in a mosaic strategy (sensu [13]).…”

BCG Protection Against COVID-19: Is it Reality or Illusion?

“…Data from several eagerly awaited randomised clinical trials will determine how BCG affects COVID-19 infection. The BCG-CORONA (the Netherlands) and BRACE (Australia) placebo-controlled trials are studying the effects of BCG on 1500 and 10.078 healthcare workers, respectively exposed to COVID-19 patients [15][16][17] . Additionally, a study in the USA reported a statistically significant reduction in the number of COVID-19 disease related to hospital admissions in BCG-vaccinated participants (although the authors did not indicate when they were vaccinated) 18 .This suggests that BCG vaccination deployment may reduce COVID-19 cases, hospitalisations, and deaths, a view shared by many opinion leaders.…”