Landscape for vaccine candidates of COVID-19

Abstract

The insurgency of the new coronavirus (SARS-COV-2) has attracted the attention of the public, authorities and academics. To date, no chemical treatment has proven efficient in clinical tests to combat the virus. The hope for the resumption of socioeconomic activities is found in the discovery of vaccines that can immunize people on a large scale. According to the World Health Organization, there are 29 vaccine candidates in the clinical evaluation phase and 138 candidates in the pre-clinical evaluation phase. In the race to discover a vaccine there are initiatives from several laboratories and research centers. However, some countries stand out - there is a concentration of initiatives. This leads us to question whether this ability to promote research, development and seek innovation in the health field is not only associated with the size of economies, but also with the quality of the business environment. Thus, the aim of the present study is to explore the relationship between innovation and economic freedom, using econometric methodology (e.g. Panel Data Analysis) combined with non-parametric methodology (e.g., Data Envelopment Analysis). Our results allow us to infer how additional economic freedom can increase innovation for different levels of economic freedom within the countries. By doing so, we can explore why there is concentrated vaccine initiatives in few countries and a better understanding of the landscape for vaccine candidates of COVID-19.