s COVID-19 spread throughout the world in late 2019 and 2020, scientists engaged in a race to develop an effective vaccine that would stop the spread of the lethal virus. By June of 2020, there were over 120 vaccine candidates in various stages of research. On average, vaccines take 8–10 years to safely develop for human use, but the use of new technologies appears to be changing the timeline for vaccine development. Given the following information about four vaccine candidates being studied in June 2020, rank them from MOST ADVANCED in development to LEAST ADVANCED in development.
A series of boxes, from left to right. The first says, a new vaccine is extensively tested. The next says, the first trials are performed on animals or cell lines. The third says, three phases of clinical trials are conducted on adult human volunteers. The last says, if the vaccine proves to be safe and effective, the U S food and drug administration approves it for commercial sale.
TakisBiotech: Developing five DNA-based vaccine candidates based on the spike protein of COVID-19; each contains PCR (polymerase chain reaction)-produced pieces of linear DNA instead of traditional circular plasmids; vaccines could be quickly produced.
Moderna: Reported successful animal antibody response and positive response in initial group of 45 human volunteers; testing an additional 600 human volunteers and recruiting next group of 30,000 human volunteers.
Oxford University/AstraZeneca: Reported successful antibody response in monkeys; tested 1,100 adult human volunteers initially; began testing on two groups of 10,000 human volunteers simultaneously; reported data for the 10,000-person group limited to subjects 18 years of age and older.
Medicago: Rapidly developing plant-based vaccine; previously successful with flu vaccine; reported positive antibody results in mice; recruiting human volunteers.
Start by choosing the first item in the sequence and clicking, dragging, or using your keyboard to select it.
TakisBiotechMedicagoModernaOxford University-AstraZeneca