The race is on. While the coronavirus has killed more than 120,000 people worldwide, the UN estimates that the only way to return to "normalcy" in the face of the epidemic is through the development of a vaccine, no treatment is possible. existing at this point. First clinical trials are already being carried out in Germany, while others are due to start on Thursday in the United Kingdom. But there is still a long way to go and a potential vaccine should not be available for more than a year.
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Researchers must first identify the DNA of the virus itself. In the case of the coronavirus, this step was quickly taken, Chinese scientists having made this information accessible to researchers around the world.
Choosing the right development strategy
The next step is to adopt a strategy to develop the vaccine and can take three forms: either we choose to inject the virus in an attenuated form, without it being dangerous for humans, or we injects in an inactivated form, as is done for influenza. The third possibility is to introduce pieces of the virus or its genetic code into another vaccine. It is this last option that researchers at the Institut Pasteur favored, starting from the measles vaccine, known for 40 years and very effective. In these three strategies, the body reacts each time, produces antibodies, and knows how to defend itself when it encounters the virus.
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Once the strategy has been adopted, there comes the time for the clinical trial, first on a small group of people to know its effectiveness and make sure it is not dangerous, then on a larger group, before the vaccine is authorized and manufactured.
Some countries are speeding up the process
All these stages require a lot of time, with incompressible durations for tests and validations, the design of a vaccine can take several years, especially when the virus is difficult to dissect. This is not the case with coronavirus, which does not seem to mutate much at this stage. In addition, 150 laboratories are active worldwide, and we can therefore count on a period of 12 to 18 months.
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Some countries have however decided to speed up the process. Thus, in England, clinical trials will start on Thursday and a million doses will be produced by September, in parallel with further research, so that the vaccine is quickly available if successful.