A team of British scientists believe they have become the first to start animal testing of a vaccine for the new coronavirus that has killed more than 900 people.
Researchers at Imperial College London said their ultimate goal was to have an effective and safe way of halting the SARS-like strain's spread by the end of the year.
"At the moment we have just put the vaccine that we've generated from these bacteria into mice," Imperial College London researcher Paul McKay told AFP in an interview on Monday.
"We're hoping that over the next few weeks we'll be able to determine the response that we can see in those mice, in their blood, their antibody response to the coronavirus."
"So, perhaps by the end of this year there will be a viable tested vaccine that would be suitable for use in people."