Amid news of tighter consumer and business restrictions in various parts of the world, developments in the Covid-19 vaccine space will have a major influence on global markets as they will provide the path for society to reopen.

AstraZeneca’s (AZN) vaccine developed with the University of Oxford is expected to be approved shortly after Christmas, according to media reports.

Moderna last week received the green light from the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) for the emergency use of its mRNA vaccine for Covid-19.

The Moderna vaccine is just as effective as the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine which has already started to be administered, but crucially can be stored at standard refrigerator temperatures of between two and eight degrees, allowing for easier transportation and more widespread distribution.

So far, Moderna has secured deals to supply the US with 200 million doses with an option for an additional 300 million, the European Union has secured 160 million, while Japan has ordered 50 million and the UK 7 million doses.

Scientists don’t yet know if the Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines prevent the onward transmission of the virus or for how long they provide immunisation.

It has become clear that distributing the vaccines isn’t going to be straightforward or as rapid as hoped, which means the 40-odd vaccine candidates currently in trials could yet play a crucial role in getting the world back to normality.

With virus cases spiking again in the UK due to the rapid proliferation of a new strain the availability of effective therapies designed to reduce the severity of symptoms and the time spent in hospital take on greater importance to alleviate strain on the NHS.

Further good news on this front came last week with shares in respiratory and drug discovery company Synairgen (SNG:AIM) surging 36% on 18 December and a further 11% to 154p on 21 December following approval from the FDA for its SNG001 inhaled drug for treating Covid-19.

Last month UK trial data was published in the prestigious Lancet journal showing that the drug may have the potential to restore the lung’s immune response and accelerate recovery from the virus.

Numis analysts believe Synairgen’s inhaled drug could be superior to Remdesivir, developed by US firm Gilead which was the first drug to be approved for use against Covid-19 by the FDA in October.

Subject to successful phase three trials Synairgen plans to scale up to produce 100,000 doses per month.

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