Table 1 Current vaccines under development and their major antigen targets

From: Viral targets for vaccines against COVID-19

Strategy

Construct

Developer

B and T cell responsesa

Clinical stage

Clinical trial identifier

First reported

Refs

Whole virus

Inactivated virus (PiCoVacc)

NA

Sinovac, with National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, China

Induction of S-specific, RBD-specific and N-specific IgG, and nAbs in mice, rats and NHPs; no induction of either TH1 or TH2 cell responses in NHPs; induction of RBD-specific IgG and nAbs in humans; no obvious vaccine-induced T cell responses in humans

Phase III

NCT04456595, 669/UN6.KEP/EC/2020, NCT04582344, NCT04617483

6 May 2020

5,145

Inactivated virus

NA

Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, Sinopharm, with Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

Induction of virus-specific IgG and nAbs in humans; no induction of either TH1 or TH2 cell responses in humans

Phase III

ChiCTR2000034780, ChiCTR2000039000, NCT04612972

13 Aug 2020

146

Inactivated virus (BBIBP-CorV)

NA

Beijing Institute of Biological Products, Sinopharm, with Institute of Viral Disease Control and Prevention, China

Induction of nAbs in rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, mice, NHPs and humans; no induction of either TH1 or TH2 cell responses in NHPs

Phase III

ChiCTR2000034780, NCT04560881

6 Jun 2020

6,150

Inactivated virus

NA

Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, China

Induction of S-specific and N-specific IgG and nAbs in humans

Phase I/II

NCT04470609

9 Nov 2020

151

S protein

Virus vector (Ad5)

Full-length S

CanSino Biological Inc. with Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, China

Induction of RBD-specific IgG and nAbs in humans; induction of TH1 cell responses

Phase III

NCT04526990, NCT04540419

22 May 2020

76,77

Virus vector (ChAdOx1)

Full-length S

University of Oxford, with AstraZeneca, UK

Induction of S-specific IgG and nAbs in mice and NHPs; induction of high TH1 cell responses but low TH2 cell responses in mice; induction of S-specific IgG and nAbs in humans, with nAb titres similar to convalescent plasma

Phase III

ISRCTN89951424, NCT04516746, NCT04540393, CTRI/2020/08/027170

20 Jul 2020

78,79,152

Virus vector (Ad26 and Ad5)

Full-length S

Gamaleya Research Institute, Russia

Induction of RBD-specific IgG and nAbs in humans, with nAb titres similar to convalescent plasma; induction of IFNγ-associated T cell responses

Phase III

NCT04530396, NCT04564716, NCT04642339

4 Sep 2020

80

DNA

Full-length S

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, with International Vaccine Institute, South Korea

Induction of S-specific, S1-specific and RBD-specific IgG and nAbs in mice, S-specific IgG and nAbs in guinea pigs; induction of IFNγ-associated T cell responses

Phase II

NCT04642638, ChiCTR2000040146

20 May 2020

81

Protein subunit

Ectodomain of wild-type S in-frame fusion to trimer-tag

Clover Biopharmaceuticals, with GSK and Dynavax, China

Induction of S-trimer-binding antibodies and nAbs in mice and NHPs; induction of high TH1 cell responses but low TH2 cell responses in mice

Phase I

NCT04405908

21 Sep 2020

84

S-2P

LNP-mRNA

Full-length S with two proline substitutions (K986P and V987P)

Moderna, with National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, USA

Induction of S-specific IgG and nAbs in mice, NHPs and humans, with nAb titres higher than convalescent plasma; induction of high TH1 cell responses but low TH2 cell responses in mice, NHPs and humans

Phase III

NCT04470427

14 Jul 2020

86,87,88,153

 

Full-length S with two proline substitutions (K986P and V987P)

BioNTech, with Fosun Pharma and Pfizer, Germany

Induction of S1-specific IgG and nAbs in humans, with nAb titres higher than convalescent plasma

Phase III

NCT04368728

20 Aug 2020

89,93

Protein subunit (CHO)

Full-length S with two proline substitutions (K986P and V987P) and three mutations at furin cleavage site (R682Q, R683Q and R685Q)

Novavax, USA

Induction of S-specific IgG and nAbs in mice, NHPs and humans, with nAb titres in humans higher than convalescent plasma; induction of high TH1 cell responses but low TH2 cell responses in mice, NHPs and humans

Phase III

2020-004123-16, NCT04611802

30 Jun 2020

90,91,154

Virus-vectored (Ad26)

Full-length S with two proline substitutions (K986P and V987P) and two mutations at furin cleavage site (R682S and R685G)

Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, USA

Induction of RBD-specific IgG and nAbs in hamsters and NHPs; higher nAb titres induced by S-2P-based vaccine rather than by wild-type S in NHPs; induction of high TH1 cell responses but low TH2 cell responses in NHPs

Phase III

NCT04505722, ISRCTN14722499

30 Jul 2020

4,92,97

RBD

Protein subunit (Baculovirus/Sf9)

RBD (residues 319–545)

West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China

Induction of RBD-specific IgG and nAbs in mice, rabbits and NHPs; induction of both TH1 and TH2 cell responses in mice

Phase II

ChiCTR2000039994

29 Jul 2020

107

LNP-mRNA

RBD (residues 319–541)

PLA Academy of Military Sciences, with Walvax Biotech and Suzhou Abogen Biosciences, China

Induction of RBD-specific IgG and nAbs in mice and NHPs; induction of high TH1 cell responses in mice and NHPs but low TH2 cell responses

Phase I

ChiCTR2000034112, ChiCTR2000039212

23 Jul 2020

106

Protein subunit (CHO)

RBD-dimer (residues 319–537 as tandem repeat)

Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical, with Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

Induction of RBD-specific IgG and nAbs in mice; no induction of either TH1 or TH2 cell responses in mice

Phase III

ChiCTR2000040153

28 Jun 2020

120

LNP-mRNA

RBD-trimer (trimerized by addition of T4 fibritin foldon domain)

BioNTech, with Fosun Pharma and Pfizer, Germany

Induction of RBD-specific IgG and nAbs in humans, with nAb titres higher than convalescent plasma; induction of high TH1 cell responses but low TH2 cell responses in humans

Phase I/II

2020-001038-36, ChiCTR2000034825, NCT04537949

12 Aug 2020

93,94,95

  1. Vaccine candidates in this table represent those that are in clinical trials and have published data. Ad, adenovirus; CHO, Chinese hamster ovary; LNP, lipid nanoparticle; N, nucleocapsid; NA, not applicable; nAb, neutralizing antibody; NHP, non-human primate; RBD, receptor-binding domain; S, spike; TH, T helper. aTH1 and TH2 cell responses were generally measured by detection of the TH1 cytokines IFNγ, IL-2 and TNF and the TH2 cytokines IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10 and IL-13.