Faced with the Covid-19 pandemic, 48 vaccine candidates are undergoing clinical trials on humans.
But only eleven have entered phase 3, the last before the approval of the authorities.
Le Parisien takes stock of the vaccines likely to arrive on the markets very soon.
Pfizer / BioNTech
The American pharmaceutical group Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech on Friday asked the American Medicines Agency, the FDA, to authorize the urgent marketing of their vaccine, announced to be 95% effective.
They are the first manufacturers to do so in the United States or Europe.
The FDA could decide on this subject as early as the first half of December.
In the event of a favorable decision, it would then be up to the European Commission to choose whether or not to authorize the marketing of the vaccine on its soil.
At this point, it is not known how long the protection of this vaccine which uses "messenger RNA" technology will last, but it would be "at least a year, if not much longer", according to the CEO of BioNTech, Ugur Sahin.
The marketing request had been expected for several days, following the publication of the results of the clinical trial conducted since July on 44,000 volunteers in several countries, and according to which the vaccine would be 95% effective, without serious side effects.
The alliance expects to be able to manufacture 1.3 billion doses next year.
However, this vaccine must be stored at -70 degrees Celsius, but pharmacies are not equipped with such freezers.
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Moderna
The American biotechnology company, led by Frenchman Stéphane Bancel, announced on November 16 that its vaccine is 94.5% effective and that it "can protect against Covid-19, including in its severe forms".
Moderna, as with Pfizer's vaccine, is expected to file an emergency use authorization application with the FDA quickly.
Moderna, which also uses “messenger RNA” technology, has carried out its phase 3 trials on 30,000 volunteers.
The American company has an advantage over its competitor Pfizer: its product can be stored in a “normal” fridge at 4 degrees, against -70 for Pfizer.
The firm plans to manufacture 20 million doses by the end of the year.
23/11/20 LP
AstraZeneca / Oxford
The British laboratory AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford released on Monday the interim results of the clinical trials of their vaccine.
70% effective on average, it is currently less convincing than those of Pfizer / BioNTech (95%) and Moderna (94.5%).
However, the Anglo-Swedish vaccine has an advantage over its American competitors: it uses more traditional technology, which makes it less expensive and easier to store, not needing to be kept at very low temperatures.
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AstraZeneca assured that its vaccine is "highly effective" in preventing the disease, noting that no trial participant developed severe forms or had to be hospitalized.
The vaccine is currently at the stage of larger clinical trials called phase 3, the stage before its authorization by the authorities.
The group ensures that it is advancing rapidly in the planned manufacture of 3 billion doses, which will be available in 2021.
Sanofi
The French giant, and its British counterpart GSK, are moving more slowly on their vaccine candidate project.
Their product could be distributed "as early as June 2021", said the president of Sanofi France, Olivier Bogillot.
He also specified that the vaccine developed by his laboratory will not need to be stored in the freezer, unlike the vaccine developed by Pfizer.
The results of the phase 2 trials are expected to be made public in early December.
If they prove to be positive, Sanofi will launch phase 3 trials "on several tens of thousands of patients" while taking the "risk" of "simultaneously launching production".
However, the laboratory does not yet know whether it will take "one or two doses" for the vaccine to be effective.
Chinese vaccines
Four vaccine projects are in the experimental phase in China but none have yet been approved.
Without waiting for the conclusion of these human clinical trials, China has however launched an emergency vaccination program on "essential workers".
But the international community lacks information on their work.
“There is no scientific publication to find out where the Chinese are at.
It's quite vague, ”notes Professor Lelièvre, head of the infectious diseases department at Henri-Mondor hospital (Créteil).
Russian vaccine
The situation is also opaque in Russia.
The creator of Sputnik-V assured that his vaccine was 92% effective but without providing proof, and without transparent scientific publication on this subject.
Apart from the 16,000 volunteers who are currently testing this vaccine, only certain doctors and health personnel have been inoculated with the product.
That did not stop President Vladimir Putin from claiming its effectiveness and inoculating it to his own daughter.
If each day the marketing of a vaccine seems to be getting closer, the World Health Organization has however not approved any for the moment.