Universal vaccines could be the answer to fighting off new, more transmissible variants and protecting us against future zoonotic outbreaks - but is it possible?
These Companies Are Working On Covid Vaccines That Could Stop The Next Pandemic
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Jeff Baxter, the CEO of Cambridge-based biotech VBI Vaccines, was at an all-hands meeting with his staff at the company’s R&D facility in Canada discussing the worsening Covid-19 pandemic. “I remember it vividly,” he says. A staff member “took me aside and grabbed me by the collar and said, ‘Jeff, we have to do something!’”
The small company, which was incorporated in the U.S. almost 15 years ago, specializes in vaccines for infectious diseases and cancer. But with a market cap of just over $800 million, it couldn’t compete with the other pharmaceutical powerhouses like Pfizer and Moderna, which were able to quickly focus energy on creating a new Covid-19 vaccine. “We weren’t part of the vanguard 5,” Baxter says, referring to the first companies to develop a Covid-19 vaccine, “but we pushed forward.”
Drew Weissman realized a year ago that even if the COVID-19 vaccines then in progress were eventually approved, it might not be enough. The world might need a next-generation vaccine to rid itself of this pandemic.
Recent outbreaks of more resilient variants suggest he could be right. And yet, when Weissman – discoverer of the mRNA science behind two of the current vaccines – and a team of fellow scientists took a proposal for a more versatile COVID-19 vaccine to the National Institutes of Health for funding last May, they left empty-handed.
The group had proposed research on vaccines to protect against any variant of the virus, known as a universal or pan vaccine.
A next-generation coronavirus vaccine is in the works, but initial funding was denied David Heath, USA TODAY
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Drew Weissman realized a year ago that even if the COVID-19 vaccines then in progress were eventually approved, it might not be enough. The world might need a next-generation vaccine to rid itself of this pandemic.
Recent outbreaks of more resilient variants suggest he could be right. And yet, when Weissman – discoverer of the mRNA science behind two of the current vaccines – and a team of fellow scientists took a proposal for a more versatile COVID-19 vaccine to the National Institutes of Health for funding last May, they left empty-handed.
A next generation coronavirus vaccine is in the works But initial funding was denied msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.