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Review
. 2020 Jun 2;16(6):1232-1238.
doi: 10.1080/21645515.2020.1735227. Epub 2020 Mar 18.

COVID-19, an emerging coronavirus infection: advances and prospects in designing and developing vaccines, immunotherapeutics, and therapeutics

Kuldeep Dhama  1 , Khan Sharun  2 , Ruchi Tiwari  3 , Maryam Dadar  4 , Yashpal Singh Malik  5 , Karam Pal Singh  1 , Wanpen Chaicumpa  6
Affiliations
Review

COVID-19, an emerging coronavirus infection: advances and prospects in designing and developing vaccines, immunotherapeutics, and therapeutics

Kuldeep Dhama et al. Hum Vaccin Immunother. .

Abstract

The novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19 or Coronavirus disease 2019) that emerged from Wuhan, Hubei province of China has spread to many countries worldwide. Efforts have been made to develop vaccines against human coronavirus (CoV) infections such as MERS and SARS in the past decades. However, to date, no licensed antiviral treatment or vaccine exists for MERS and SARS. Most of the efforts for developing CoV vaccines and drugs target the spike glycoprotein or S protein, the major inducer of neutralizing antibodies. Although a few candidates have shown efficacy in in vitro studies, not many have progressed to randomized animal or human trials, hence may have limited use to counter COVID-19 infection. This article highlights ongoing advances in designing vaccines and therapeutics to counter COVID-19 while also focusing on such experiences and advances as made with earlier SARS- and MERS-CoVs, which together could enable efforts to halt this emerging virus infection.

Keywords: COVID-19; Emerging coronavirus; drugs; therapeutics; vaccines.

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