Coronavirus vaccine will take months: biotech exec

No manufacturer will have a coronavirus vaccine ready for use before the middle of 2020, despite an intensive global effort, a biotech executive told AFP on Friday.

Stephane Bancel is chief executive of Moderna Therapeutics, one of several entities involved in an all-out international effort to create a vaccine as soon as possible for the deadly SARS-like virus, also known as nCoV-2019, that has already killed more than 200 people.

Moderna is working in coordination with the US National Institutes of Health, while Inovio Pharmaceuticals and the University of Queensland in Australia are pursuing alternative tracks.

They have all received funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), an international body established to finance costly biotechnology research.

But Bancel warned that "no manufacturer will be able to have a vaccine ready for the summer".

In a French-language interview with AFP, Bancel also described the technology Moderna was using in its approach.

"It is based on messenger RNA technology. Messenger RNA (mRNA) is a coded information molecule," he said.

Moderna's website explains that "mRNA medicines are sets of instructions that cells in the body use to make proteins to prevent or fight disease."
"The challenge is that it could quickly be given to millions of people. The responsibility for its safety is therefore very important. Even going quickly with technolgy like mRNA, no manufacturer will be able to have a vaccine ready by the summer, or even by the autumn."
"But one advantage of getting a coronavirus vaccine approved, is that if there is a mutation to another virus later, it will be possible to have a product available quickly."
In a separate interview with the European Pharmaceutical Review, CEPI chief executive Richard Hatchett said: "Our aspiration with these technologies is to bring a new pathogen from gene sequence to clinical testing in 16 weeks - which is significantly shorter than where we are now."