POSB193 COVID-19 Vaccine Development Pipeline: 2021

ABSTRACT

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus strain SARS-CoV-2 had a catastrophic consequence in global physical and psychological health, as well as economic recession. Development of vaccines can be the most prominent approach to prevent the virus to cause COVID-19 and hence will play a vital role in controlling the spread of the virus and reducing mortality. This study was conducted to review the current pipeline of vaccines in clinical trials for the COVID-19. Methods: We conducted a review of clinical trials of vaccines for COVID-19 using trial data obtained from the and World Health Organisation (WHO) registries and performed an analysis. We also assessed active vaccine development projects that had completed one clinical phase but were yet to start the next. Results: A total of 125 vaccines in 365 trials assessing the efficacy and safety for COVID-19 36 vaccines in phase III, 49 in phase II, and 35 in phase I. As of June, 2021, there were 18 vaccines approved for COVID-19. Of these, seven approved by WHO, three by US FDA, and four by EMA. Among the approved vaccines, eight were inactivated, five were non-replicating viral vector, three were RNA, and two were protein subunit. Among the top five vaccines approved in most number of countries, Oxford/AstraZeneca AZD1222 approved in 115 countries, followed by Pfizer/BioNTech BNT162b2 in 89 countries, Gamaleya Sputnik V in 68 countries, Moderna mRNA-1273 in 53 countries), Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) Ad26.COV2.S in 52 countries, and Sinopharm (Beijing) BBIBP-CorV in 53 countries. Conclusions: Emerging COVID-19 will continue to pose significant challenges to the global community. This pipeline analysis shows that we have a strong pipeline of new vaccines in late stage development. Till date, 18 received approval and several additional promising vaccines are being evaluated in later stage clinical trials.