US&nbsp;immunotherapy company Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Wednesday its experimental&nbsp;vaccine&nbsp;to prevent coronavirus infection produced protective antibodies and immune system responses in&nbsp;mice&nbsp;and&nbsp;guinea&nbsp;pigs.

"We saw antibody responses that do many of the things we would want to see in an eventual&nbsp;vaccine," said Dr. David Weiner, director of the&nbsp;vaccine&nbsp;and immunotherapy center at the Wistar Institute, which has collaborated with Inovio.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/covid-19-vaccine-first-human-trial-reflects-possibility-of-creating-immunity-299481">COVID-19 vaccine first human trial reflects possibility of creating 'immunity'</a>

"We are able to target things that would prevent the virus from having a safe harbor in the body."

The company's shares, which have more than quadrupled this year on hopes of its&nbsp;vaccine&nbsp;working, surged another 18 per cent&nbsp;to $15.77 early trading.

There are currently no approved treatments or&nbsp;vaccines for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, with governments, drugmakers and researchers working on around 100&nbsp;vaccine&nbsp;programs.

Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/oxford-coronavirus-vaccine-found-protective-in-small-monkey-study-298903">Oxford coronavirus vaccine found 'protective' in small monkey: Study</a>

Experts predict a safe and effective&nbsp;vaccine&nbsp;could take 12 to 18 months to develop.

Inovio began human testing of its&nbsp;vaccine&nbsp;in April. Many other drugmakers including Moderna Inc, Pfizer Inc, Johnson &amp; Johnson, Sanofi and AstraZeneca Plc are also in various stages of&nbsp;vaccine&nbsp;development.

On Monday, Moderna said its experimental COVID-19&nbsp;vaccine&nbsp;produced protective antibodies in a small group of healthy volunteers, according to very early data, putting it at the front in the race.

Inovio said preliminary results from its human trial are expected in June. The 40 healthy participants in the Phase 1 trial are given two shots, four weeks apart, of the&nbsp;vaccine, called INO-4800, and then followed for two weeks.

"We are already seeing safety data and it has been benign," Dr. Katherine Broderick, head of research and development at Inovio, told Reuters. "Some people have slight redness of the arm."

Both Moderna and Inovio are using newer technology that focuses on specific genes on the outer "spike" portion of the virus.

Inovio's&nbsp;vaccine&nbsp;was designed using its DNA medicine platform, while Moderna's&nbsp;vaccine&nbsp;uses messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. Both companies have no approved drug in the market.

Inovio has been severely criticized by Citron Research, with the short seller slapping a target price of $2 on the company's stock.&nbsp;

Once the preliminary data is in, Inovio expects to approach the US&nbsp;Food and Drug Administration for authorization to move into a Phase 2/3 trial, which could happen in July or August.

Inovio said the latest animal study results, published in the journal Nature Communications, validate its DNA medicines platform.

It plans to test the&nbsp;vaccine&nbsp;in larger animals including rabbits and monkeys, and undertake "challenge" studies in&nbsp;mice, ferrets and monkeys, Broderick said.

"Challenge" studies involve intentionally giving the virus to an animal and then seeing if the&nbsp;vaccine&nbsp;prevents infection.

Inovio's&nbsp;vaccine&nbsp;efforts are funded by a global coalition and the company has said it can manufacture 1 million doses by the end of the year for additional trials and emergency use.

US immunotherapy company Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Wednesday its experimental vaccine to prevent coronavirus infection produced protective antibodies and immune system responses in mice and guinea pigs.

US immunotherapy company Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Wednesday its experimental vaccine to prevent coronavirus infection produced protective antibodies and immune system responses in mice and guinea pigs. "We saw antibody responses that do many of the things we would want to see in an eventual vaccine," said Dr. David Weiner, director of the vaccine and immunotherapy center at the Wistar Institute, which has collaborated with Inovio. Also read: COVID-19 vaccine first human trial reflects possibility of creating 'immunity' "We are able to target things that would prevent the virus from having a safe harbor in the body." The company's shares, which have more than quadrupled this year on hopes of its vaccine working, surged another 18 per cent to $15.77 early trading. There are currently no approved treatments or vaccines for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, with governments, drugmakers and researchers working on around 100 vaccine programs. Also read: Oxford coronavirus vaccine found 'protective' in small monkey: Study Experts predict a safe and effective vaccine could take 12 to 18 months to develop. Inovio began human testing of its vaccine in April. Many other drugmakers including Moderna Inc, Pfizer Inc, Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi and AstraZeneca Plc are also in various stages of vaccine development. On Monday, Moderna said its experimental COVID-19 vaccine produced protective antibodies in a small group of healthy volunteers, according to very early data, putting it at the front in the race. Inovio said preliminary results from its human trial are expected in June. The 40 healthy participants in the Phase 1 trial are given two shots, four weeks apart, of the vaccine, called INO-4800, and then followed for two weeks. "We are already seeing safety data and it has been benign," Dr. Katherine Broderick, head of research and development at Inovio, told Reuters. "Some people have slight redness of the arm." Both Moderna and Inovio are using newer technology that focuses on specific genes on the outer "spike" portion of the virus. Inovio's vaccine was designed using its DNA medicine platform, while Moderna's vaccine uses messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. Both companies have no approved drug in the market. Inovio has been severely criticized by Citron Research, with the short seller slapping a target price of $2 on the company's stock. Once the preliminary data is in, Inovio expects to approach the US Food and Drug Administration for authorization to move into a Phase 2/3 trial, which could happen in July or August. Inovio said the latest animal study results, published in the journal Nature Communications, validate its DNA medicines platform. It plans to test the vaccine in larger animals including rabbits and monkeys, and undertake "challenge" studies in mice, ferrets and monkeys, Broderick said. "Challenge" studies involve intentionally giving the virus to an animal and then seeing if the vaccine prevents infection. Inovio's vaccine efforts are funded by a global coalition and the company has said it can manufacture 1 million doses by the end of the year for additional trials and emergency use.

US: COVID-19 vaccine produces antibodies in mice, guinea pigs

Canada's National Council has joined hands with China&nbsp;to develop a vaccine against the deadly coronavirus.

The trials will bring to Canadian soil Ad5-nCoV, a vaccine candidate under joint development by a Chinese company and the country’s military.

Backed by a state that has urgently sought a vaccine of global importance, Ad5-nCoV&nbsp;has been among the most rapidly developed of numerous candidates around the world.

Canada&nbsp;struck an agreement to support its development on its soil by manufacturing doses that can be administered in human tests and for emergency pandemic use.

''We are going to get to evaluate it for safety and efficacy in canada, as is being done already in china, and canada will now be part of the front-runner story,” said Roman Szumski, vice-president of life sciences for the NRC.

If the tests succeed, the vaccine candidate could seek health Canada’s approval for emergency use as early as per Szumski.

It is already undergoing concurrent first- and second-phase human trials in China.

The agreement between the two countries comes at a times when opinion of China has hit&nbsp;a new low in Canada amid coronavirus and Huawei case.

There are also growing concerns in canada whether to allow Huawei in its 5G&nbsp;infrastructure or not. A&nbsp;report revealed in February claimed how Canadian military warned Trudeau regarding&nbsp;dangers of Huawei to the Canadian security.

More than 1 lakh Canadians have signed a petition to ban the company in ther country. 
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Canada's National Council has joined hands with China to develop a vaccine against the deadly coronavirus. The trials will bring to Canadian soil Ad5-nCoV, a vaccine candidate under joint development by a Chinese company and the country’s military.

Canada's National Council has joined hands with China to develop a vaccine against the deadly coronavirus. The trials will bring to Canadian soil Ad5-nCoV, a vaccine candidate under joint development by a Chinese company and the country’s military. Backed by a state that has urgently sought a vaccine of global importance, Ad5-nCoV has been among the most rapidly developed of numerous candidates around the world. Canada struck an agreement to support its development on its soil by manufacturing doses that can be administered in human tests and for emergency pandemic use. ''We are going to get to evaluate it for safety and efficacy in canada, as is being done already in china, and canada will now be part of the front-runner story,” said Roman Szumski, vice-president of life sciences for the NRC. If the tests succeed, the vaccine candidate could seek health Canada’s approval for emergency use as early as per Szumski. It is already undergoing concurrent first- and second-phase human trials in China. The agreement between the two countries comes at a times when opinion of China has hit a new low in Canada amid coronavirus and Huawei case. There are also growing concerns in canada whether to allow Huawei in its 5G infrastructure or not. A report revealed in February claimed how Canadian military warned Trudeau regarding dangers of Huawei to the Canadian security. More than 1 lakh Canadians have signed a petition to ban the company in ther country.

Canada strikes deal with China to make coronavirus vaccine

Humanity is in a race against time to find a cure for the coronavirus, the virus has killed over 7,300 people and has infected more than 185,000 globally.

Humanity in a race against time for a cure