The strongest candidates so far are considered to be rom the University of Oxford with AstraZeneca Plc, Moderna Inc. and a partnership of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE. In reality, these are simply the COVID-19 vaccine candidates closer to approval and currently on phase 3. A phase 3 clinical trial still involve high risk that the vaccine may actually not be proven effective. In short, Phase 3 trials do fail.
Aside the prevention efforts targeting the coronavirus vaccine development, there is a large focus on treatments for active COVID-19 infections. Antivirals, are drugs that work by stopping the virus from replicating inside our cells or infecting new cells. The most promising coronavirus treatment candidate so far is Remdesivir by Gilead Sciences Inc.
Several other approaches are in place such as anti-COVID-19 antibodies currently in phase 3 and a phase 2 antiviral by Merck & Co. code named MK-4482.
As the world is working together for prevention and treatment, everyone hopes that soon we will claim a victory against the pandemic.
