From theodysseyonline.com:
There are already prototypes of vaccines
Our ability to design new vaccines is spectacular. There are already more than eight projects against the new coronavirus. There are groups that work on vaccine projects against other similar viruses and now try to change viruses.
What can lengthen its development are all the necessary tests of toxicity, side effects, safety, immunogenicity and effectiveness in protection. Therefore, there are several months or years, but some prototypes are already underway.
For example, the mRNA-1273 vaccine from Moderna consists of a messenger RNA fragment that encodes a protein derived from the glycoprotein S of the coronavirus surface. This company has similar prototypes for other viruses.
Inovio Pharmaceuticals has announced a synthetic DNA vaccine for the new coronavirus, INO-4800, also based on the S gene of the virus surface. For its part, Sanofi will use its recombinant baculovirus expression platform to produce large amounts of the surface antigen of the new coronavirus.
The vaccine group of the University of Queensland, in Australia, has announced that it is already working on a prototype using the technique called a molecular clamp, a novel technology that consists of creating chimeric molecules capable of maintaining the original three-dimensional structure of the viral antigen. This allows producing vaccines using the genome of the virus in record time.
Novavax is another biotechnology company that has announced its work with the coronavirus. It has a technology to produce recombinant proteins that are assembled into nanoparticles and that, with their own adjuvant, are potent immunogens.
In Spain, it is the group of Luis Enjuanes and Isabel Sola of the CNB-CSIC who have been working on vaccines against coronaviruses for years.
Some of these prototypes will soon be tested in humans.
There are more than 80 clinical trials with antivirals in progress
Vaccines are preventive. More important are the possible treatments of people who are already sick. There are already more than 80 clinical trials to analyze coronavirus treatments. These are antivirals that have been used for other infections, which are already approved and that we know are safe.
One of those that has already been tested in humans is redelivered, a broad-spectrum antiviral, still under study, which has been tested against Ebola and SARS / MERS. It is an analog of adenosine that is incorporated into the viral RNA chain and inhibits its replication.
Another candidate is chloroquine, an antimalarial that also has a potent antiviral activity. It is known to block the infection by increasing the pH of the endosome that is needed for the fusion of the virus with the cell, which inhibits its entry. It has been proven that this compound blocks the new coronavirus in vitro and is already being used in patients who have caused the virus pneumonia.
Lopinavir and Ritonavir are two protease inhibitors used as antiretroviral therapy that inhibit the final maturation of the AIDS virus. As the SARSCov2 protease has been shown to be similar to that of HIV, this combination has already been tested in patients with the coronavirus.
Other proposed trials are based on the use of oseltamivir (a neuraminidase inhibitor used against influenza virus), interferon-1b (protein with antiviral function), antisera from already recovered people and monoclonal antibodies to neutralize the virus. Even new therapies with inhibitory substances, such as baricitinibin, have been suggested by artificial intelligence.
The 1918 flu pandemic caused more than 25 million deaths in less than 25 weeks. Could something similar happen again today? As we see, most likely not. We have never been better prepared to fight a pandemic.
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