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Coronaviruses

General Information

Coronaviruses are enveloped RNA viruses. The characteristic surface of a coronavirus virion has a crown-like appearance that can be seen under the electron microscope. 

Most coronaviruses infect animals (i.e. bats, birds and mammals), which act as reservoirs and intermediate hosts, but can sometimes change host and infect humans.

There are currently 7 coronaviruses known to infect humans. 

  • 4 of them cause mild-to-moderate disease: 
    • HCoV-OC43, HCoV-HKU1 and HCoV-229E cause common colds
    • HCoV-NL63 is an important cause of (pseudo) croup and bronchiolitis in children
  • 3 of them cause more severe and possibly even fatal disease: 
    • SARS-CoV, responsible for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) (2002)
    • MERS-CoV, responsible for Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) (2012)
    • SARS-CoV-2, responsible for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (2019)
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Epidemiology

2022

SARS-CoV2

As of week 2022-29, 157,662,545 cases and 1,129,429 deaths have been reported in the EU.
2022

MERS-CoV

From April 2012 till June 2022, a total of 2,591 laboratory-confirmed cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) were reported globally, with a death rate of 34.5%. The majority of these cases were reported from Saudi Arabia​

MERS-CoV:

Vaccines
Pipeline

1
Vaccines in
the pipeline

Technology Platforms

    Viral Vector (1)

DEVELOPMENT PHASES

    Phase I (1)

TRIAL POPULATION

    Adults (1)

SARS-CoV2:

Vaccines
Pipeline

27
Vaccines in
the pipeline

Technology Platforms

    Viral Vector (3)​
    mRNA (17)​
    Protein nanoparticles (2)​
    Protein subunit (2)​
    Virus-like particle (3)​

DEVELOPMENT PHASES

    Phase I (4)​
    Phase II (5)​
    Phase III (10)​
    Under review (8)​

TRIAL POPULATION

    Adults (10) ​
    Adults + Older Adults (9)​
    Paediatric (6)​
    Paediatric + Adults (1)​
    Paediatric + Adults + Older Adults (1)​ ​ ​ ​

SARS-CoV2 + Influenza:

Vaccines
Pipeline

2
Vaccines in
the pipeline

Technology Platforms

    mRNA (1)​
    Protein nanoparticles (1)​

DEVELOPMENT PHASES

    Phase I (1)​
    Phase II (1)​

TRIAL POPULATION

    Adults (1)
    Adults + Older Adults (1)​

Sources:
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/covid-19/latest-evidence/coronaviruses
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/communicable-disease-threats-report-24-30-july-week-30
http://www.emro.who.int/health-topics/mers-cov/mers-outbreaks.html
[Accessed: November 2022]

Vaccines Europe Pipeline Review

Download our pipeline review