BEIJING: A candidate vaccine targeting the novel coronavirus has been tested on animals, according to a report on Monday (Feb 10) on news portal yicai.com, citing sources with the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The mRNA vaccine was co-developed by the CDC, Shanghai-based Tongji University School of Medicine and Stermirna Therapeutics Co Ltd. A CDC official warned that the animal testing is in a very early stage of vaccine development and there are still many steps to be taken before the vaccine is ready to be used on humans. The development and production cycle of the mRNA vaccine is shorter than that of traditional vaccines. A number of research institutes and companies around the world are stepping up efforts in developing vaccines and agents against the novel coronavirus, which has already caused more than 40,000 confirmed cases in China as of Monday.

Source: thestar February 10, 2020 14:37 UTC