Mapping the technological landscape of SARS, MERS, and SARS-CoV-2 vaccines

Abstract

Purpose

The last two decades have seen the emergence of several viral outbreaks. Some of them are the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV2) – the cause of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Ever, vaccines for emergency use have been authorized for the control and prevention of COVID-19. Currently, there is an urgent need to develop a vaccine for prophylaxis of COVID-19 and for other future epidemics.

Methods

This review describes patented vaccines for SARS and MERS-CoV and vaccines developed and approved for emergency use against the new coronavirus (COVID-19). The European Patent Office and the World Intellectual Property Organization were the patent databases used using specific terms. In addition, another search was carried out in the Clinical Trials in search of ongoing clinical studies focused on the COVID-19 vaccine.

Results

The patent search showed that most vaccines are based on viral vector platforms, nucleic acids, or protein subunits. The review also includes an overview of completed and ongoing clinical trials for SARS-CoV-2 in several countries.

Conclusion

The information provided here lists vaccines for other types of coronavirus that have been used in the development of vaccines for COVID-19.

Keywords:

• Coronavirus
• COVID-19
• MERS
• SARS
• SARS-CoV-2
• pandemic
• vaccine

Acknowledgements

We dedicate this article to all health professionals who have died or are in the front line in the against COVID-19.

Disclosure statement

All authors report no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001.The authors thank CAPES, FAPITEC/SE and CNPq (Brazil) for their financial support.