Alex Knapp Forbes Staff Mar 13, 2020,10:59pm EST
The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic poses a unique
challenge for healthcare providers. There are no approved treatments for this
disease, nor are there any approved vaccines.
That’s put big drug companies, universities and
biotech startups on the hot seat. Since the 2003 outbreak of SARS, another
variety of deadly coronavirus, they’ve been researching ways to handle diseases
that can be produced by this family of viruses. When a coronavirus is capable
of infecting humans, it typically attacks the respiratory system, which can
make them particularly deadly.
It usually takes about 10 to 15 years to develop a
vaccine. The good news: leaps in technology, such as the ability to rapidly
sequence virus genomes and to create vaccines out of messenger RNA, are
speeding up the process of development. Developing new drug treatments can also
take time—about a decade from discovery to getting on the market. But here
technology also provides an advantage. New types of antiviral drugs and
immunotherapy treatments can treat a wide range of diseases. Which means that
drugs already in the development pipeline or already treating diseases in
patients could be useful to fight COVID-19, shortening the time it will take to
make an effective medicine.
On this page, we’ll be tracking and regularly updating
the development of new treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, from research to
testing to commercial release.
Last update: March 14, 2020
Gilead Sciences
For the past few years, Foster City, California-based
Gilead has been developing Remdesivir, an anti-viral that’s shown promising
results in lab and animal studies against SARS, MERS, Ebola and other
infectious diseases, including COVID-19. The company has initiated
clinical trials in the U.S. and China to see if the drug can be
effective against the new coronavirus, and also working with governments to
provide the drug as an emergency treatment in the absence of other
options.
Status: Large-scale
human testing
Of note: A
World Health Organization assessment from February described remdesivir as the
“most promising candidate” against COVID-19.
AbbVie
AbbVie manufactures the co-formulation
lopinavir/ritonavir, which is used to treat HIV. It’s currently collaborating
with health authorities to see if it can be used as a treatment
against COVID-19, based on unconfirmed reports in China that its use was
helpful in combating it. It has provided the drug to several countries,
including China, as an experimental option.
Status: Working
with health authorities such as the CDC, WHO, and the National Institutes of
Health regarding testing.
Moderna
Cambridge, MA-based biotech startup Moderna has developed
a potential mRNA vaccine against COVID-19. The vaccine was developed
in collaboration with scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases. The vaccine works by getting the immune system to develop antibodies
against a “spike
protein” found on the virus. A batch of the vaccine has been
manufactured and delivered to the NIAID for a first round of testing.
Status: Phase
1 testing
Of note: The
vaccine was developed, manufactured and sent out for testing just 42 days after
the coronavirus DNA sequence was first published.
Johnson & Johnson
Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson has
partnered with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development
Authority, a federal agency that helps develop countermeasures to biological
threats, to develop potential vaccines and treatments for COVID-19. The company
is working to identify molecules in its libraries that might be effective
against the disease. It’s also leveraging technologies that were used to
successfully develop an ebola vaccine towards finding promising vaccine
candidates.
Status: Investigation
and development
Of note: In
addition to looking at new therapies, Johnson & Johnson has sent batches of
its HIV drug darunavir/cobicistat to China to test its efficacy against
COVID-19.
Eli Lilly
Indiana-based pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly announced
that it is partnering with Vancouver-based biotech firm AbCellera to
co-develop antibody-based treatments against COVID-19. The firms have already
discovered “hundreds” of antibodies that might be effective against the
disease, with the next step being to screen those for the most effective
treatment candidate.
Status: Screening
antibody candidates to move to testing phase
Of note: "In
11 days, we've discovered hundreds of antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus
responsible for the current outbreak,” AbCellera CEO Carl Hansen said in a
statement.
Pfizer
Earlier this month, Pfizer
announced that it had discovered several promising antiviral molecules
that stop the SARS-CoV-2 virus from reproducing in cells in the lab. The
candidates are currently being screened to identify the best candidates to move
into the development pipeline. The company’s Chief Science Officer, Mikael
Dolsten, noted
that the company might also consider exploring the combination of
these molecules with antiviral treatments developed by other firms.
Status: Early
development
Of note: On
Friday, the
company announced that part of its plan to combat COVID-19 would be
sharing its expertise with smaller biotech companies and committed to using its
excess manufacturing capacity to scale up any approved therapy or vaccine.
GlaxoSmithKline
GSK has previously developed a pandemic vaccine adjuvant platform,
a system that helps to improve vaccines by strengthening the immune response in
patients who receive it. In February, the company
announced it was partnering with the Coalition for Epidemic
Preparedness Innovations to use that platform to improve potential vaccines to
the new coronavirus. As part of that collaboration, it signed an agreement with
the University of Queensland, Australia, which is developing a potential
vaccine. GSK has also
partnered with Chinese pharmaceutical company Clover to use its
adjuvant platform with that company’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
Status: Vaccines
are still in early testing
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
The New York-based biotechnology company is expanding
its collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services, which has
already resulted in a potential ebola treatment. In that collaboration, the
company is looking to identify potential antibody therapies that could be
useful against COVID-19.
Status: Early
Stage
Of note:
Sarilumab, a rheumatoid arthritis treatment Regeneron developed with Sanofi,
is reportedly
on track to be tested as a potential COVID-19 treatment.
Inovio Pharmaceuticals
Pennsylvania-based pharmaceutical company Inovio
Pharmaceuticals has announced it has accelerated
the timeline for its vaccine candidate INO-4800. The company has
previously developed a vaccine for MERS that’s in the testing phase. It’s also
been awarded
a $5 million grant to scale up the smart device it plans to use for
the delivery of the vaccine. According to a statement, the company’s CEO has
said it could begin human testing of the vaccine in April.
Status: In
development, with testing to begin soon
Vir Biotechnology
San Francisco-based Vir Biotechnology announced March
12 that it’s going to b collaborating
with BioGen to manufacture antibodies that may have potential to treat
COVID-19. The company has identified antibodies from people who recovered from
SARS, and is studying to see if they might be active against the new
coronavirus, as the two are very similar. Vir is also working with federal
agencies to advance its research against other coronaviruses.
Status: Early
stage
Of note: In
February, Vir announced
it’s working with Chinese pharmaceutical firm WuXi Biologics on this
research as well.
Sanofi
French pharmaceutical company Sanofi announced
that it’s collaborating with BARDA to expedite a COVID-19 vaccine,
leveraging technology already in use in development of a SARS vaccine. The
company says that it will use its recombinant DNA tech with an aim of finding
an exact genetic match to the surface proteins of the virus.
Status: Vaccine
is in development
Of note: Sarilumab,
a rheumatoid arthritis treatment Sanofi developed with Regeneron, is reportedly
on track to be tested as a potential COVID-19 treatment.
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