Coronavirus: scientists race to develop vaccine as death toll surpasses Sars

Efforts being led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, a body set up in 2017 to finance biotech research in the wake of the Ebola outbreak in Africa that killed more than 11,000 people

Australian scientists hope their vaccine could be ready in six months

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Coming up with a new vaccine typically takes years and involves a lengthy process of testing, clinical trials on humans and regulatory approvals. Photo: AFP

Published: 4:00pm, 9 Feb 2020Updated: 5:19pm, 14 Feb 2020

Scientists from the United States to Australia are using new technology in an ambitious, multimillion-dollar drive to develop a vaccine in record time to tackle the coronavirus outbreak that started in China.

The new virus has spread rapidly since emerging at the end of last year in the central China city of Wuhan. It has since killed more than 800 people in the Chinese mainland, infected over 37,500, and cases have been reported in two dozen countries.

Coming up with any vaccine typically takes years and involves a lengthy process of testing on animals, clinical trials on humans and regulatory approvals. But several teams of experts are racing to develop one quicker, backed by an international coalition that aims to combat emerging diseases, and Australian scientists hope theirs could be ready in six months.

“It is a high-pressure situation and there is a lot of weight on us,” said senior researcher Keith Chappell, part of the group from Australia’s University of Queensland.

But he said he took “some solace” knowing several teams around the world were engaged in the same mission.

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