Pat Benatar's 1980 hit song "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" could have a very different meaning today. People around the world anxiously anticipate a new kind of "best shot" -- a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine.
There are currently 166 novel coronavirus vaccine candidates in development, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Twenty-four of those candidates are being evaluated in clinical trials in humans. Most of those are in early-stage clinical studies. However, five COVID-19 vaccine candidates are either currently in late-stage clinical testing or are scheduled to begin a phase 3 study in the next few days.
Sinopharm Group is developing two of the five late-stage candidates, one with Wuhan Institute of
Biological Products and another with Beijing Institute of Biological Products. Another Chinese drugmaker, Sinovac Biotech, also claims a COVID-19 vaccine candidate in phase 3 testing.