Which Biotech Company Has the Most Promising Coronavirus Vaccine? - The Motley Fool | Canada News Media
Connect with us

Health

Which Biotech Company Has the Most Promising Coronavirus Vaccine? – The Motley Fool

Published

 on


The U.S. Congressional Budget Office projects that the COVID-19 pandemic will cause more than $16 trillion worth of damage to the U.S. economy over the next decade. More than 140,000 Americans have already died from the coronavirus, meaning that in the span of six and a half months, SARS-CoV-2 has killed more people than the number of Americans who die each year from opioid overdose (46,000), traffic accidents (36,500), and gun violence (40,000) combined.

The COVID-19 pandemic isn’t subsiding in the U.S., with more than 70,000 new cases per day as of July 15. Nearly 25 states have now rolled back their reopening plans as the nation struggles to contain the deadly virus.

Fortunately, there are over 140 coronavirus vaccines in development. Out of this group, four vaccines are currently frontrunners. Let’s look at which vaccine company is the best buy for investors. 

Image source: Getty Images.

Four rising stars in the search for a cure

First up is Moderna‘s (NASDAQ:MRNA) mRNA-1273, a vaccine containing messenger ribonucleic acid strands that code for the SARS-CoV-2’s spike (S) protein, which is responsible for facilitating the virus’s entry into host cells. It’s theorized that the vaccine functions by prompting the body’s immune system to recognize S-proteins from its vaccine to defend itself, so it’s ready in the event the actual SARS-CoV-2 enters the body. In phase 1 clinical trials, all 45 healthy volunteers who received mRNA-1273 developed neutralizing antibodies (antibodies that can combat SARS-CoV-2). The vaccine will enter phase 3 on July 27.

Second up is Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech‘s (NASDAQ:BNTX) BNT162b1. Like mRNA-1273, BNT162b1 is also a messenger RNA vaccine, except it encodes a specific receptor-binding domain of SARS-CoV-2. The vaccine also has a similar mechanism of action as mRNA-1273. Additionally, all 45 healthy subjects who received Pfizer and BioNtech’s vaccine in phase 1/2 trials developed neutralizing antibodies. BNT162b1’s phase 3 clinical trial is scheduled to commence shortly.

The third candidate at play is Inovio Pharmaceuticals(NASDAQ:INO) INO-4800. INO-4800 is one stem upstream from the two mRNA vaccines discussed previously, as it features DNA that encodes for messenger RNA that encodes the SARS-CoV-2’s S-protein.

In phase 1 trials, 34 out of 36 participants who received INO-4800 developed an immune response. However, it is not known what percentage of patients developed neutralizing antibodies. Without this metric, no definitive efficacy claims can be drawn.

Lastly, AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) and Oxford University are developing their own version of a vaccine that encodes SARS-CoV-2’s S-protein. The vaccine is labeled AZD1222 and is made from a weakened version of the common cold virus. Phase 1 results are set to be released July 20. The company has already announced that not only did AZD1222 produce antibodies when given to trial participants, but it also led to the development of killer T-cells against SARS-CoV-2. The vaccine is currently in phase 3. 

So which company is the best buy? 

While all of the companies above are making significant progress in the race to develop a coronavirus vaccine, AstraZeneca’s AD1222 is currently the most promising candidate due to its ability to produce both antibodies and killer T-cell response. There is growing evidence that a T-cell response is as important as neutralizing antibodies in fighting SARS-CoV-2. 

A recent study showed that coronavirus antibodies start to fade within three weeks and disappear entirely by three months. Killer T-cells, however, can circulate within the body for years after injection. Hence, AstraZeneca’s vaccine has the potential to become a double defense against the SARS-CoV-2. 

The company launched a phase 3 clinical trial evaluating AZD1222 on July 4, and has the manufacturing capacity to produce 2 billion doses if approved. Since the vaccine offers the potential to save countless lives and alleviate economic impact, I recommend investors add AstraZeneca to their portfolios

Let’s block ads! (Why?)



Source link

Continue Reading

Health

Whooping cough is at a decade-high level in US

Published

 on

 

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Whooping cough is at its highest level in a decade for this time of year, U.S. health officials reported Thursday.

There have been 18,506 cases of whooping cough reported so far, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. That’s the most at this point in the year since 2014, when cases topped 21,800.

The increase is not unexpected — whooping cough peaks every three to five years, health experts said. And the numbers indicate a return to levels before the coronavirus pandemic, when whooping cough and other contagious illnesses plummeted.

Still, the tally has some state health officials concerned, including those in Wisconsin, where there have been about 1,000 cases so far this year, compared to a total of 51 last year.

Nationwide, CDC has reported that kindergarten vaccination rates dipped last year and vaccine exemptions are at an all-time high. Thursday, it released state figures, showing that about 86% of kindergartners in Wisconsin got the whooping cough vaccine, compared to more than 92% nationally.

Whooping cough, also called pertussis, usually starts out like a cold, with a runny nose and other common symptoms, before turning into a prolonged cough. It is treated with antibiotics. Whooping cough used to be very common until a vaccine was introduced in the 1950s, which is now part of routine childhood vaccinations. It is in a shot along with tetanus and diphtheria vaccines. The combo shot is recommended for adults every 10 years.

“They used to call it the 100-day cough because it literally lasts for 100 days,” said Joyce Knestrick, a family nurse practitioner in Wheeling, West Virginia.

Whooping cough is usually seen mostly in infants and young children, who can develop serious complications. That’s why the vaccine is recommended during pregnancy, to pass along protection to the newborn, and for those who spend a lot of time with infants.

But public health workers say outbreaks this year are hitting older kids and teens. In Pennsylvania, most outbreaks have been in middle school, high school and college settings, an official said. Nearly all the cases in Douglas County, Nebraska, are schoolkids and teens, said Justin Frederick, deputy director of the health department.

That includes his own teenage daughter.

“It’s a horrible disease. She still wakes up — after being treated with her antibiotics — in a panic because she’s coughing so much she can’t breathe,” he said.

It’s important to get tested and treated with antibiotics early, said Dr. Kris Bryant, who specializes in pediatric infectious diseases at Norton Children’s in Louisville, Kentucky. People exposed to the bacteria can also take antibiotics to stop the spread.

“Pertussis is worth preventing,” Bryant said. “The good news is that we have safe and effective vaccines.”

___

AP data journalist Kasturi Pananjady contributed to this report.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

Health

Scientists show how sperm and egg come together like a key in a lock

Published

 on

 

How a sperm and egg fuse together has long been a mystery.

New research by scientists in Austria provides tantalizing clues, showing fertilization works like a lock and key across the animal kingdom, from fish to people.

“We discovered this mechanism that’s really fundamental across all vertebrates as far as we can tell,” said co-author Andrea Pauli at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna.

The team found that three proteins on the sperm join to form a sort of key that unlocks the egg, allowing the sperm to attach. Their findings, drawn from studies in zebrafish, mice, and human cells, show how this process has persisted over millions of years of evolution. Results were published Thursday in the journal Cell.

Scientists had previously known about two proteins, one on the surface of the sperm and another on the egg’s membrane. Working with international collaborators, Pauli’s lab used Google DeepMind’s artificial intelligence tool AlphaFold — whose developers were awarded a Nobel Prize earlier this month — to help them identify a new protein that allows the first molecular connection between sperm and egg. They also demonstrated how it functions in living things.

It wasn’t previously known how the proteins “worked together as a team in order to allow sperm and egg to recognize each other,” Pauli said.

Scientists still don’t know how the sperm actually gets inside the egg after it attaches and hope to delve into that next.

Eventually, Pauli said, such work could help other scientists understand infertility better or develop new birth control methods.

The work provides targets for the development of male contraceptives in particular, said David Greenstein, a genetics and cell biology expert at the University of Minnesota who was not involved in the study.

The latest study “also underscores the importance of this year’s Nobel Prize in chemistry,” he said in an email.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

Health

Turn Your Wife Into Your Personal Sex Kitten

Published

 on

Product Name: Turn Your Wife Into Your Personal Sex Kitten

All orders are protected by SSL encryption – the highest industry standard for online security from trusted vendors.

Turn Your Wife Into Your Personal Sex Kitten is backed with a 60 Day No Questions Asked Money Back Guarantee. If within the first 60 days of receipt you are not satisfied with Wake Up Lean™, you can request a refund by sending an email to the address given inside the product and we will immediately refund your entire purchase price, with no questions asked.

(more…)

Continue Reading

Trending

Exit mobile version