WHO is in talks with several Chinese manufacturers for possible vaccines against coronaviruses (File)
Geneva:
AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 experimental vaccine is probably the world‘s first and most advanced candidate for development, said the chief scientist of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday.
The British drug maker has already started large-scale human mid-term trials of the vaccine, which was developed by researchers at the University of Oxford.
This week, AstraZeneca signed its tenth supply and manufacturing contract.
“Certainly in terms of progress, where they are, they are probably, I think, the main candidate,” said Soumya Swaminathan, WHO chief scientist, at a press conference.
“So it is possible that they will get results soon enough.”
Swaminathan said Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate was “not far behind” that of AstraZeneca, among more than 200 candidates, 15 of whom have entered clinical trials.
“We know that the Moderna vaccine will also enter phase three of the clinical trials, probably from mid-July, and that the vaccine candidate is therefore not far behind,” she said.
“But I think AstraZeneca is certainly more global in scope right now in terms of the direction and planning of its vaccine trials.”
WHO is in talks with several Chinese manufacturers, including Sinovac, on potential vaccines, as well as with Indian researchers, said Swaminathan.
She called on drug manufacturers to consider collaborating on COVID-19 vaccine trials, similar to the ongoing WHO Solidarity trial for drugs. On Friday, a WHO-led coalition fighting the pandemic asked government and private sector donors to help raise $ 31.3 billion over the next 12 months to develop and provide tests, treatments and vaccines against the disease. The initiative is called ACT-Accelerator.
Andrew Witty, Special Envoy for ACT-Accelerator, said it was important to consider a “portfolio of research efforts” for vaccines.
“It is still very early in this journey, we can be super lucky – which would be great – and have an early win,” said Witty. “Even if it takes 12 to 18 months, it would be unprecedented, the rapid development of the vaccine worldwide.”
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
