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- Twenty groups of scientists are trying to create a single vaccine that fights multiple coronaviruses.
- The coronavirus is the family of viruses to which SARS-CoV-2 – which caused the COVID-19 pandemic – belongs.
- An expert said scientists could make the vaccine within five years, preventing future pandemics.
Scientists could soon create a vaccine that fights most coronaviruses, potentially preventing future pandemics, a foundation that funds vaccine development has said.
More than 20 research groups are trying to develop “broadly protective” vaccines that can work against several coronaviruses. This is the family of viruses to which SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic, belongs.
If these researchers are successful, the next time a coronavirus passes from animals to humans – which is considered the most likely cause of future coronavirus pandemics – we will immediately roll out vaccines that work against it.
In March, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) announced up to $ 200 million for widely protective vaccines. CEPI was co-founded in 2017 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and several countries to fund research into vaccines against emerging diseases, including disease X, an unspecified organism that could cause future epidemics.
Nick Jackson, head of programs and innovative technologies at CEPI, told Insider he is optimistic scientists can make a fully tested vaccine that works against most coronaviruses in three to five years.
Read more: Experts explain why mRNA technology that revolutionized COVID-19 vaccines could be the answer to incurable diseases, heart attacks and even snakebites: “The possibilities are endless”
Broadly protective vaccines “would cover the majority of known coronavirus threats” and “if they really succeed” would also protect against unknown viruses that have yet to emerge, he said.
Jackson said CEPI wanted to help create a vaccine for every theoretical future threat, by creating vaccine “libraries” parked around the world in strategic geographic locations. “So if Disease X does appear in sub-Saharan Africa, we have a solution in our library that can be used immediately,” Jackson said.
Jackson warned that a “universal” coronavirus vaccine for all coronaviruses was a “large order” and potentially “unachievable” because the coronavirus family was so large. Over the past 10 years, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has identified hundreds of new coronaviruses, he said.
Kirsty Le Doare, professor of vaccinology and immunology at Imperial College London, told Insider that it would take five to ten years of continuous investment to develop widely protective coronavirus vaccines. “Scientifically, there has always been an opportunity, but there has been no investment,” she said.
CEPI has already invested $ 33 million in US-based biotech VBI vaccines and $ 170 million in SKI bioscience in Korea to develop ‘variant-resistant’ vaccines that protect against multiple variants of COVID-19 in one single injection.
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