thevaccinereaction--2020-02-12--Moderna to Use New mRNA Technology to Develop Coronavirus Vaccine

The recent outbreak of a novel coronavirus that originated in Wuhan , China has driven pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to begin developing a vaccine for the mutated virus .
Three research teams have received funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations ( CEPI ) , a global public-private partnership launched at the Davos World Economic Forum in 2017 , to develop a vaccine for the new strain of coronavirus ( 2019-nCoV ) .1 The first grant was awarded to Moderna , Inc. , which has partnered with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ( NIAID ) within @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) to develop a vaccine for the Wuhan strain of coronavirus.1 Some researchers believe that an experimental vaccine previously designed to combat severe acute respiratory syndrome ( SARS ) , which was never licensed , as well as vaccine platforms using messenger RNA ( mRNA ) technology , which has not yet been approved by the FDA for vaccine production , are likely to shorten the time needed to fast track a 2019-nCoV vaccine to market.2 Andrew Pekosz , PhD , professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at Johns Hopkins University ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , “ There ’ s been some really good work on SARS and MERS that is educating this process.
” 2 He added : Anthony Fauci , MD , director of NIAID said during an interview with the Journal of the American Medical Association ( JAMA ) he is confident that within three months or less , an experimental coronavirus vaccine will be in a Phase 1 clinical trial.2 Some experts say an emergency-use coronavirus vaccine could be ready within one year.2 The second CEPI grant was given to Inovio Pharmaceuticals , Inc. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ received a grant of up to $ 9 million to develop a 2019-nCoV vaccine.3 The third CEPI grant was given to the University of Queensland in Australia .
Paul Young , PhD , head the university ’ s school of chemistry and molecular biosciences , said the university has novel technology for the rapid generation of new vaccines using knowledge about a virus ’ s genetic sequence information.4 On Jan. 23 , 2020 , Moderna announced that it “ will manufacture an mRNA vaccine against 2019-nCoV , which will be funded by CEPI @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ( NIAID ) , part of NIH , collaborated with Moderna to design the vaccine .
NIAID will conduct IND-enabling studies and a Phase 1 clinical study in the U.S. ” 5 Moderna is using a new technology known as Messenger RNA ( mRNA ) to develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus .
Moderna ’ s website states : What are RNA vaccines ?
Unlike a traditional vaccine , RNA vaccines introduce an mRNA sequence ( the molecule which tells cells what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for a disease specific antigen .
Once produced within the body , vaccine developers say the antigen is recognized by the immune system and stimulates a strong inflammatory response to produce antigens to fight the pathogen.7 Messenger RNA vaccines are faster and cheaper to produce than traditional vaccines and do not utilize any parts of the pathogenic virus or bacteria .
Researchers believe that the lab production of messenger RNA vaccines will speed up new vaccine development and responses to disease outbreaks and epidemics , with the potential to scale and standardize the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ published in 2018 in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery , Norbert Pardi , PhD and his colleagues wrote that , while pre-clinical studies have shown optimism about the prospects of mRNA-based vaccines , two recent clinical reports revealed less than optimal vaccine effectiveness..
In both trials , immunogenicity was lower in humans than was expected based on animal models , a phenomenon also observed with DNA-based vaccines , and side effects experienced by participants were not trivial.8 Johnson & Johnson and Other Drug Makers to Ship Therapies to China Johnson & Johnson is the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a vaccine for the new strain of coronavirus.10 Johnson & Johnson said its vaccine program would use the same technologies used to make its experimental Ebola vaccine , which is currently being administered in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.9 Johnson & Johnson ’ s Chief Scientific Officer Paul Stoffels said Johnson & Johnson agreed to a recent request by Chinese health authorities to ship its HIV drug Prezcobix for potential treatment of coronavirus infections.11 Dr. Stoffels said , “ Industry can take different steps to combating this epidemic as fast as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Prezcobix in patients who test positive for the coronavirus would not harm them , and could help authorities find a treatment that works.10 Merck & Co. has also assigned a team of scientists to assess whether any of the company ’ s drugs might be effective against the Wuhan coronavirus.10 Gilead Sciences , a biotechnology company based in California is having discussions with researchers and clinicians in the United States and China about using its experimental antiviral therapy , Remdesivir , to treat coronavirus patients .
Remdesivir has not been licensed yet by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outside the United States.10