Covid-19 vaccine may be possible before end of 2020, CEPI says

A vaccine against the Covid-19 coronavirus might be possible before the end of 2020, a leading research group said.

David Hatchett, the head of the Oslo-based Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, reportedly said that the first vaccine could be available on an emergency use basis if trials prove its safety and efficacy.

In a call on Monday, Hatchett attributed the revised timeline to the scope for companies to work together to accelerate the process, quicker enrollment of patients in clinical trials and other factors, Bloomberg reported.

The CEPI was founded in 2016 at Davos by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

"These are all things we are looking at now as potential opportunities to perhaps deliver vaccines even faster than the 12 to 18 months we were discussing," Hatchett reportedly said.

It was possible that several vaccines sponsored by CEPI might enter phase two trials as soon as late spring or summer.

If available in 2020, access may be limited to at-risk populations, including health-care professionals.

Nevertheless, some experts are urging caution, as even developing a vaccine in 12-18 months would be extremely fast by historic standards and the vaccines that are progressing the quickest are based on new technologies that had never proven useful in humans.

Indeed, in the past there had been examples of speedy development processes that ended in "bad outcomes".

CEPI might invest in another 15 programmes or more and had already partnered with outfits including Moderna and Inovio Pharmaceuticals as well as research centres such as Oxford and the University of Queensland.