All you want to know about the coronavirus vaccine race

It is a race against time to hunt for coronavirus vaccine because a vaccine appears to be the only exit strategy from the pandemic with research taking place at breakneck speed.

142 vaccine candidates are in early development with 35 in clinical trials. Only five vaccines are one step away from approvalwith large scale vaccine trials underway.

Phase 3 clinical trials are in full swing with thousands of volunteers being given the shots to test whether they work or not. The most promising candidate is the University of Oxford vaccine. It is made from a genetically engineered virus that causes common cold in chimpanzees. The trials for the Oxford vaccine is underway in the United Kingdom as well as South Africa and Brazil.

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The University of Melbourne in Australia and the Murdoch children’s research institute are driving another vaccine Down Under. Reports saythe vaccine does not directly protect against the Wuhan virus but it might boost the body’s non-specific immune response.

Another candidate from China claims they are in advanced stages of clinical trials butthere is no way to confirm the actual status of the projects or whether the vaccine works or not.

Chinese company Sinovac is also developing a vaccine. It is based on inactive COVID-19 particles. The vaccine is now moving into large scale trials in Brazil. The Wuhan Institute of biological products is also developing vaccines.

China's President Xi Jinping sees the hunt for the vaccine as a race. The Chinese president wants his country to win it. A vaccine may help China wash its sins with the cover-up, also, it stands to make a lot of money.

Every major country in the world is running vaccine trials right now. They are locking up future supplies too. The developed world could be the first to get a vaccine due to the advanced orders they have placed as they have pre-ordered potential vaccines. It is a parallel race to lock up supplies.

The United States is perhaps the biggest hoarder of vaccines. It has invested $1 billion each in 5 different projects - Moderna, Johnson and Johnson, Astra Zeneca, Novavax and Pfizer- either in the form of funding or in advance deals. They have all received money from the US government.

They can supply anywhere between 100 to 400 million doses to America first. The European Union is next. They plan to secure 100 to 400 million doses also on pre-order, reportedly around 400 million doses have already been made.

The EU. is talking with three other companies. Reports say it has set aside close to $3 billion for vaccine supplies. The United Kingdom is also hoarding. It has signed four deals already for a potential 250 million doses. The population of the UK is a little more than 60 million. They have booked 250 million doses which is four times more than what they need.

Japan is talking with two companies and could ink a deal soon. The rich countries will get the bulk of vaccine supplies whenever a vaccine is ready. The will also decide when to donate or sell. US President Donald Trump is confident that America will be in a position to supply to the world.

America and its pharma companies stand to make a lot of money. Pfizer recently struck a deal the US government of $2 billion for 600 doses. The price of one dose was set at 20 dollars around Rs 1,500.

Moderna is another company that is ahead in the race. It could charge anywhere between 50 to 60 dollars for a dose which is anywhere between Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,500. Some pharma companies are already benefitting just by promising a vaccine or a cure, that doesn’t even exist yet.

On the day the agreement was announced between Pfizer and the US government their stocks shot up more than five per cent. The share price of Moderna soared 18 per cent after its vaccine made a breakthrough earlier this month, although there is no harm when stockholders make a profit in legitimate ways but what happens when executives with insider information make bets and pocket billions in profits?

A report earlier this month said corporate insiders pocketed $1 billion in the Wuhan virus vaccine rush.

Insiders from at least eleven companies are said to have sold shares worth well over $1 billion since March. They sold the shares after positive announcements when the prices of shares skyrocketed. It's not for nothing that we call this profit from pandemic!