Two Coronavirus Vaccine Candidates Enter Human Trials, 60 in Pre-Clinical Stage: WHO

Two candidate vaccines for COVID-19 have entered the first phase of human clinical trials and another 60 candidate vaccines are in pre-clinical studies, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed.

The vaccine candidate jointly developed by CanSino Biological Inc and Beijing Institute of Biotechnology uses the non-replicating viral vector as the platform, same as the non-corona candidates like Ebola, to develop a vaccine with a 'Adenovirus Type 5' candidate, a draft landscape of COVID-19 vaccine candidates brought out today.

Sources say adenoviruses are common viruses that cause pneumonia and can deliver potential antigens to stimulate the production of antibodies that work against the disease. CanSino Biological Inc, in association with the Chinese Academy of Military Medical Science's Bioengineering Institute, had developed an Ebola vaccine in 2017.