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Medicine

A New Covid Vaccine Could Bring Hope To the Unvaccinated World (nytimes.com) 52

Posted by msmash from the shape-of-things-to-come dept.
The German company CureVac hopes its RNA vaccine will rival those made by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech. It could be ready next month. From a report: In early 2020, dozens of scientific teams scrambled to make a vaccine for Covid-19. Some chose tried-and-true techniques, such as making vaccines from killed viruses. But a handful of companies bet on a riskier method, one that had never produced a licensed vaccine: deploying a genetic molecule called RNA. The bet paid off. The first two vaccines to emerge successfully out of clinical trials, made by Pfizer-BioNTech and by Moderna, were both made of RNA. They both turned out to have efficacy rates about as good as a vaccine could get. In the months that followed, those two RNA vaccines have provided protection to tens of millions of people in some 90 countries. But many parts of the world, including those with climbing death tolls, have had little access to them, in part because they require being kept in a deep freeze.

Now a third RNA vaccine may help meet that global need. A small German company called CureVac is on the cusp of announcing the results of its late-stage clinical trial. As early as next week, the world may learn whether its vaccine is safe and effective. CureVac's product belongs to what many scientists refer to as the second wave of Covid-19 vaccines that could collectively ease the world's demand. Novavax, a company based in Maryland whose vaccine uses coronavirus proteins, is expected to apply for U.S. authorization in the next few weeks. In India, the pharmaceutical company Biological E is testing another protein-based vaccine that was developed by researchers in Texas. In Brazil, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam, researchers are starting trials for a Covid-19 shot that can be mass-produced in chicken eggs. Vaccines experts are particularly curious to see CureVac's results, because its shot has an important advantage over the other RNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech. While those two vaccines have to be kept in a deep freezer, CureVac's vaccine stays stable in a refrigerator -- meaning it could more easily deliver the newly discovered power of RNA vaccines to hard-hit parts of the world.
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A New Covid Vaccine Could Bring Hope To the Unvaccinated World More

A New Covid Vaccine Could Bring Hope To the Unvaccinated World

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  • Historically, there's usually been "the vaccine" for various diseases. This competition has led to innovations like this one (a refrigerator-reliant RNA vaccine), but also to the reintroduced idea that one medicine is better than another (Moderna/Pfizer > J&J > AstraZeneca, etc.)

    I hope that all vaccines are found to be safe and effective so in the future we aren't reduced to relying on company marketing to assist in choosing the right vaccine brand. I mean, imagine the TV commercials, etc. "Find o

    • Side effects may include temporary fever, body aches, dizziness, and headaches. In rare cases, male pattern baldness may occur - and reach out to your doctor immediately if spontaneous sex change occurs while you sleep.

      Make that loads of fur, and you'll have a made market. Sex change will just add to it.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by fermion ( 181285 )
      The polio vaccine was innovative like the Covid vaccine. The first successful vaccine used a new controversial method, had to be refrigerated, and was widely successful. There were issue of manufacturing, in which kids died. But it was given to the schoolchildren en masse. A more traditional vaccine became the norm because it was easier to deliver and admitted, although it also had higher risks.
    • I am glad just one or two companies won't have the world by the balls though.

    • Pfizer/Moderna .gt. J&J or AZ (in terms of probability of preventing disease if exposed) isn't marketing spin or an election polling horse race; it's an actual measured observation based on as controlled of an experiment as you're going to get. Short of a theorem in pure mathematics, there's nothing out there that you're more sure of.

      If preventing disease if exposed isn't the only metric, if for example shelf life or cost to produce or one dose vs two is a metric, or the metric, you care about, then th

      • You're right about avoiding monoculture and free markets (usually) help avoid that.

        When it comes to certain utilities in life, however - things like shelter, energy, healthcare, etc. - you don't want to have to count on professional truth twisters (marketers) to make the right choices.

    • This is why in Germany ads for prescription drugs are illegal.

    • There are two polio vaccines, and at least two flu vaccines (FluMist and injected).

  • In Brazil, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam, researchers are starting trials for a Covid-19 shot that can be mass-produced in chicken eggs.

    Yum. Vaccine, and breakfast.

  • Freezer Requirements (Score:2, Interesting)

    by crow ( 16139 )

    So how much of the current requirements for storing the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines is based on actual testing of what happens if they don't do that as opposed to simply requiring it because they know it works? My understanding is that they skipped checking a lot of things that aren't really necessary to get these out quickly, so it makes sense that they would find a protocol that works and require it without checking other protocols that might also work. I do recall that they lessened the storage require

    • I have wondered if there is any specific reason the J&J vaccine is considered 1-shot, whereas the mRNA are 2-shot. After 1 shot they work about as good as the J&J, how well does the J&J work after a second shot?

      I'm sure all these permutations will be looked into (or can be ruled out for whatever reason by people who know this stuff) but I can see why it takes time.

      • Efficacy is only one metric. Establishing long term antibody count is another. mRNA vaccines need a second boost not to significantly increase efficacy (which is already ~80% after 1st dose), but to have a substantial long term antiviral load. This is particularly important with the variants, where it is such high antiviral load that acts against the virus (it i the reason a third shot is in the work for mRNAs, to increase antiviral loads even higher). Now, the reason the J&J still needs one is not pub

        • It is probably efficacy. Russia just released the one shot sputnik lite, which is basically just a repackaged first shot of the normal sputnik v and it supposedly has about the same efficacy as the Janssen vaccine.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Bengie ( 1121981 )
          I haven't read about a falsification, but I've seen many in the medical research community questioning the "conventional wisdom" that antibodies levels indicate immunity. Highly correlated on average, but sometimes almost no predictive power at all. Other more difficult, slow, and expensive, but modern testing methodologies for other forms of immunity factors may provide better indicators depending on the infection.

      • Re:Freezer Requirements (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Scareduck ( 177470 ) on Friday May 07, 2021 @04:41PM (#61360166) Homepage Journal

        I’m in the J&J 2-dose trial, which is what they’re trying to learn. They’re also dosing it as a 1/2 dose (compared to the approved one-shot).

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward
      So how much of the current requirements for storing the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines is based on actual testing of what happens if they don't do that as opposed to simply requiring it because they know it works?

      Think about it some and you'll realize the answer is all of it is because they know it works. Look at the label use for continuous glucose monitors: anywhere the probe has access to interstitial fluid will obviously work, but each manufacturer has approval for just a few body sites. (The ones wher

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by edwdig ( 47888 )

      So how much of the current requirements for storing the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines is based on actual testing of what happens if they don't do that as opposed to simply requiring it because they know it works? My understanding is that they skipped checking a lot of things that aren't really necessary to get these out quickly, so it makes sense that they would find a protocol that works and require it without checking other protocols that might also work. I do recall that they lessened the storage requirements for one of them at some point (back in December or so, if I recall correctly), so maybe they've been doing that work now.

      It's *all* based on "we know for sure that this works". This is the trial run for all of it, so the rules are extremely conservative.

      Both Pfizer and Moderna applied for approval on updated guidelines within the last week or so, greatly easing the requirements. I believe Moderna now says its ok to store their vaccine in a refrigerator for several months. Pfizer's reduction isn't as drastic, but I believe it's now ok to store it in a regular freezer instead of the special ultra low temperature ones that were

  • The problem is getting them made and distributed. The German vaccine will be little help, as Merkel is not going to wave patents on vaccines. The Chinese vaccine, which has inoculated a small country, has shown to be less effective as that country is now in the middle of another Covid outbreak. India has to reserve all it local stock to end the outbreak there. The Chinese have limited distribution to Brazil, a large customer, now that WHO has authorized the vaccine for COVAX. Any vaccine has to be effectiv

    • The patents aren't the issue here. This German vaccine will only be manufactured in low numbers because the USA is not only blocking vaccine exports but raw materials required for mRNA vaccine manufacturing as well.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by fermion ( 181285 )
        So the US has the power to block German exports to countries within the EU and to places like Brazil. Now China is refusing to ship raw materials to Brazil for its vaccine, that is true.

        In fact the US is joining EU nations in supply components and medical supplies to India. The fact is Germany was still trying to set up vaccine distribution in April. The fact is that Bayer did not get authorization to help curevac until February. Months after the rest of the world was fully ramped up.

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by dunkelfalke ( 91624 )

          https://www.bw24.de/baden-wuer... [bw24.de]

          The USA is behaving like a dick, hence Biden demanding patient opening is pure hypocrisy.

          German vaccine distribution has been set up last year and it is pretty effective. The problem always has been vaccine availability because Germany, unlike the USA, never blocked vaccine exports.

    • What is this Germany and Merkel bashing about?

  • This shit's crazy. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by RightSaidFred99 ( 874576 ) on Friday May 07, 2021 @04:01PM (#61360016)

    I have the feeling we're hitting one of those inflection points in biotech. For this much progress to be made this quickly. I don't feel too crazy to think that we could literally have cures for a majority of infectious diseases and most cancers within the next decade. Between mRNA vaccines/tech, CRISPR, and all the other shit coming out things could get really crazy.

    • Re:This shit's crazy. (Score:4, Interesting)

      by timeOday ( 582209 ) on Friday May 07, 2021 @04:10PM (#61360032)
      I agree, targeting the DNA of your specific pathogen seems SO much better, we're going to remember now as the dark ages. No more vaguely targeting broad families of pathogens in order to discover if any of them were actually what you had in the first place.
      • Unfortunately, it is also the target of all the anti-GMO anti-vax crowd claiming the traditional attenuated virus is more "natural" and kept spewing all the batshit stuff about DNA mutation, etc..
    • I don't know if it's that much different than when we first started developing vaccines for the most common illnesses of the time. In hindsight they seem like low hanging fruit and perhaps if you were looking forward from that point in time you'd reach the same conclusion, but in reality there were a lot of other diseases that we didn't think about much, primarily because all of the other things killed us first before those really became a problem.

      Even assuming we did eradicate some of the nastiest disea

    • Re:This shit's crazy. (Score:5, Interesting)

      by sinij ( 911942 ) on Friday May 07, 2021 @04:20PM (#61360082)
      I shudder to think what going to be biotech peak technology. I remember being excited about networks and computing and we got social media that destroying our society out of it. Our bodies are not exactly built with information security in mind, cell machinery will run any code you give it. So arbitrary code execution is a built-in feature that will be very hard to fix.

      • Re:This shit's crazy. (Score:4, Interesting)

        by RightSaidFred99 ( 874576 ) on Friday May 07, 2021 @04:39PM (#61360154)
        Yeah, I guess that's the other side of it. Might be an arms race between who can design the nastiest, most targeted shit (e.g. ethnically targeted viruses/prions/whatever) and how fast the other side can defend against it.

        • One of the challenges of the mRNA vaccines was to get past those defenses so that the body would not just destroy the foreign RNA (infosec). The trick was to change one of the base pairs, so that it is not actually RNA at all, but still works like RNA.

          • Re: (Score:3)

            by sinij ( 911942 )

            Our bodies are built with InfoSec in mind

            This is only partially true. Our immune systems do a decent job identifying anything that does not belong and rather effectively attacking it. Authentication, on other hand, is nearly completely missing. As you can make things look like other benign things, and as cell machinery will run any code, such system is only effective against non-sentient attacker. In computing terms, this is closer to error-correction mechanism than attack mitigation.

  • Interesting approach from Jason McLellan at U. Texas [slashdot.org] currently in trials. Take Newcastle disease virus, strip out the pathogens, add instructions to make a highly-modified prefusion spike protein from SARS-CoV-2, and dump it in chicken eggs using the process for making influenza vaccines. As this is available throughout the world (the first trial was in Vietnam), this can be reproduced locally. The prefusion spike is even more stabilized than the one in the Moderna, Pfizer, and J&J shots, as it has six prolines rather than just two. And because they use Newcastle disease as the manufacturing vector, it infects chicken eggs beautifully, giving tremendous yields.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Halo1 ( 136547 )

      Democracy Now! also had an interesting interview with someone else from Texas about a similar approach [democracynow.org]. Maybe it's the same team, and just a different team member?

  • A refrigerator-stable vaccine is a big deal. If it matches the efficacy of the current mRNA vaccines that's just a nice bonus.

    What I'm not seeing headlines about is freeze-dried mRNA vaccines. Google "lyophilized" along with mRNA vaccine, and you'll find experimental non-COVID vaccines from years back stable for months at room temperature. Imagine something with 90-95% efficacy that could be distributed with even the poorest country's logistics chain.

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