Home » Covid vaccine. The future is called Rna

Covid vaccine. The future is called Rna

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The future? It will almost certainly go through the mRna vaccines we learned about with Covid-19. Hypothesized about 30 years ago and tested for the first time on animal models in 2013, messenger Rna (mRna) vaccines have proven to be safe and effective against Covid-19 and are now one of the promising technologies also in the fight against numerous other infections and illnesses. The speed with which they can be modified makes them a potentially ideal weapon also against the new variants of the Sars-Cov-2 coronavirus. While in the future they could prove useful for the prevention and treatment of other infections, for example that due to the insidious cytomegalovirus and against respiratory viruses that strongly affect young children. In addition – and this is no small advantage – they would seem excluded from the collateral events, albeit very rare, that are concerning the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines that use the viral vector. The future of vaccines is told by the Moderna experts, during the second annual “Vaccines Day” event, which design the new scenarios and innovations already in sight for this year.

The three key elements

According to Moderna experts, the advantages of mRna vaccines are based on three key elements. The first is a ‘high accuracy, at the biological level, which includes the ability to create combination vaccines against more than one virus and obtain complex antigens, where the antigens are the parts of the virus that you want the immune system to attack. The second is the flexible manufacturing process: viral proteins must not be made, but the organism itself generates them based on the instructions provided (RNA). Furthermore, the same technology can be used both to develop vaccines and therapies. This makes it all faster – the third element – and you can pass from the construction of the drug, therefore from the genetic sequence to the experimentation and approval of the product in a very short time.

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Modern vaccine, the antibodies are there for (at least) six months


This increased flexibility and speed make vaccines unmatched optimal candidates also for the fight against the new variants of the coronavirus, as experts explain. Some phase 2 clinical trials are already underway against the variants. The modification of messenger RNA would be faster than the changes that would have to be made with more traditional vaccines. In general, in fact, it is easier to produce and replace mRna – whose synthesis is chemical rather than biological – rather than the viruses or proteins that are the basis of protein vaccines or attenuated or inactivated viruses. Preliminary data from Moderna studies on animal models against the so-called South African variant indicated that among the candidates studied (there are three candidates) the most effective in increasing the level of antibodies is a booster with a vaccine based specifically on the South African variant. While a combination of the old vaccine (mRna-1273, the one we are using now) and this new variant specific could provide broader immunity.

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Regarding Moderna’s vaccine already in use, an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that the antibodies induced by Moderna’s Covid vaccine persist for 6 months after the second dose. The updated data confirms a high efficacy, equal to more than 90% against Covid-19 symptoms and more than 95% against severe forms of the disease.

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The coronavirus front isn’t the only one in researchers’ sights. There is also a study on cytomegalovirus, which causes fever, swollen lymph nodes and other symptoms, and which can be insidious and serious in immunosuppressed people, pregnant women and young children. The first evaluation still not completed (the so-called interim analysis) of the study in phase 2 indicates favorable data and the plan is to start phase 3 – the last stage of the experimentation – in 2021 involving 8 thousand participants. Good news also comes from the preliminary phase 1 evaluation of a study on the mRna-1345 vaccine, against respiratory syncytial virus (Rsv), cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia in infants. Phase 1, however, is the first stage and involves few participants. In addition, a phase 1 study on a candidate is expected to begin by 2021 flu shot and a trial evaluating a new mRna-based vaccination strategy againstHiv.

A brief history of mRna vaccines

The first theoretical steps behind the creation of messenger RNA vaccines were made in the 90s thanks to the work of the Hungarian scientist Katalin Karikó. The first tests of mRna vaccines along with lipid-carrying nanoparticles (mRna-Lnp) took place in 2013 and 2014, while the first clinical trials on human volunteers in mid-2015. Since then, more than one trial against two has started. influenza virus, human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) – cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia in infants – Zika virus, Chikungunya, human metapneumovirus (similar in symptoms to RSV), parainfluenza virus type 3, cytomegalovirus and finally the Sars-Cov-2. The research continues and the next few years will start several experiments. To date, studies have been published on the mechanisms of action of mRna vaccines also against other viruses such as HIV and Ebola.

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