On pins and needles: Will COVID-19 vaccines ‘save the world’?

When the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in late 2019 and began its spread around the world, the global innovation community mobilized quickly to initiate the development of a vaccine for COVID-19, the disease it causes. Hundreds of individuals and institutions—in academia, biotechnology, government, and pharmaceuticals—embarked on one of the most consequential scientific endeavors in living memory. Funding poured in from governments, multilateral agencies, not-for-profit institutions, and the private sector. Regulators showed uncanny speed in working with innovators. Now, months later, more than 250 vaccine candidates are being pursued globally, with 30 already in clinical studies and another 25 or so poised to enter human trials in 2020.