Coronavirus Vaccine Trial Begins, Biotech Competition Heats Up

The coronavirus pandemic has affected both the domestic and international markets, and the damage has increased manifold in some major economic zones in the last few weeks. The virus had originated from the city of Wuhan of Hubei province in China. So far, 169,387 confirmed cases have been reported globally, per the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Of the total, 6,513 people have died, while 77,257 have recovered. Fortunately, biotech companies are in a race to develop a treatment for the virus and people are counting on them.

First Trial Kicks Off

According to a government official, the first clinical trial for a designed vaccine is expected to start today, stated the Associated Press. The first participant in the trial will receive the experimental vaccine created by Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) , which worked with the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) that funded the trial. Notably, 45 young and healthy volunteers will first receive the vaccine in different doses in order to ensure minimization of adverse side effects. As the shots do not contain the virus, the participants are not going to get infected from the trials.

The move from Moderna, a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company, is in the right direction as far as public health and safety are concerned, and will likely set the stage for larger tests in the coming days. Notably, the stock has gained 8.9% year to date against the 11.8% decline of the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Other Companies in the Race & Up for Gains

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:INO) is expected to start tests for candidates in April for its potential coronavirus vaccine, INO-4800. It has a testing center at the University of Pennsylvania and another one in the Kansas City, MO. It has plans for performing similar tests in China and South Korea. The company received a $5-million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to accelerate testing and other developments.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) is collaborating with private biotech AbCellera to co-develop antibody therapies for the treatment and prevention of coronavirus. Another company, Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) is partnering with biotech giant Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) to develop and manufacture antibody treatment for the virus. Vir Biotechnology, being a relatively smaller biotech company, will get help from Biogen in large-scale manufacturing.

In addition to biotech companies, large pharmaceutical companies like Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) , GlaxoSmithKline plc (NYSE:GSK) and others are also making significant efforts to develop vaccines and treatments to counter coronavirus.

While the overall vaccine development process has been impressively fast so far, it might take 12-18 months to fully validate a potential vaccine, which will be available to people at a later stage. Moreover, large scale production of the vaccine will take a considerable time, assuming that the tests generate positive results only. With the help of modern technology, researchers are looking for temporary vaccines as well, which will provide them time to come up with a permanent solution.

Update From China

Scientists in China are working with different combinations of HIV drugs to treat the virus. Moreover, an experimental Ebola drug, Remdesivir, is being tested by them. The University of Nebraska Medical Center is working with this drug on some Americans who were on the infected cruise ship in Japan and got the virus.

China’s new daily cases of infections have been declining in the past few weeks. The country is now easing lockdowns and quarantine zones in some areas, which have put industrial activities on a recovery mode. The slow recovery of the economy in China will act as a positive catalyst for the overall global market, as the country comprises an integral part of the global supply chain.

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