COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine Development

The latest threat to global health is the ongoing outbreak of the respiratory disease that was recently given the name Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). COVID-19 was recognized in December 2019. It was rapidly shown to be caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This virus is structurally related to the virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). In symptomatic patients, the clinical manifestations of the disease usually start after less than a week, consisting of fever, cough, nasal congestion, fatigue, and other signs of upper respiratory tract infections. The infection can progress to severe disease with dyspnoea and severe chest symptoms corresponding to pneumonia in approximately 75% of patients, as seen by computed tomography on admission. The Covid-19 outbreak not only posed a major challenge to the public health, research, and medical communities, but also caused significant damage to the global economy. A protective vaccine is therefore needed to achieve adequate herd immunity against SARS-CoV-2 infection for eventual control of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Advances in COVID-19 mRNA vaccine

mRNA vaccines provide flexibility in the design and expression of vaccine antigens that can mimic the structure and expression of the antigen during natural infection. mRNA is required for protein synthesis, does not integrate into the genome, is transiently expressed, is metabolized and eliminated by the natural mechanisms of the body and is therefore considered safe. The rapid development of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines is possible because the genome and structural information of SARS-CoV-2 was made available in record time. Vaccine manufacturers are currently racing to develop COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, and have made great progress.

• mRNA-1273 developed by Moderna is an LNP-encapsulated mRNA with complete substitution of uridine by N1-methyl-pseudourine and encodes SARS-CoV-2 full-length S-2P protein. mRNA-1273 entered clinical trials just 66 days after the first sequencing of SARS-CoV-2, demonstrating the substantial advantage of mRNA vaccines with regard to development and manufacturing speed. Like traditional live-virus vaccines, these vaccines deliver a genetic sequence into a host cell, and co-opt host machinery to express antigens of interest. However, rather than using a weakened SARS-CoV-2 to transport the code, Moderna's vaccine uses a synthetic lipid nanoparticle to carry mRNA templates.

• BioNTech and Pfizer developed two COVID-19 nucleoside-modified, LNP-encapsulated mRNA vaccine candidates. One is BNT162b1 that encodes a secreted RBD immunogen, trimerized by a T4 fibritin foldon domain to improve its immunogenicity through multimerization. The other is BNT162b2 that encodes the full-length S-2P protein. Both of these mRNA vaccines have been shown to provide protection against SARS-CoV-2 through a variety of beneficial mechanisms.

Solutions for COVID-19

Despite some successes in the development of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. But challenges remain. With in-depth knowledge of coronavirus theory and advanced mRNA vaccine technology, Alfa chemistry has the ability to develop mRNA vaccines with potent immunogenicity, thus enabling efficient intra-host antigen production and facilitating the antibody response to SARS-CoV-2.

Why choose us

Alfa Chemistry guarantees to provide customers with efficient and high-quality COVID-19 mRNA vaccine development solutions. If you have any questions related to mRNA vaccine development, please feel free to contact us.

Our products and services are for research use only and cannot be used for any clinical purposes.

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COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine Development

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