COVID-19: WHO says 70 vaccines in development, with three leading candidates

There are 70 coronavirus vaccines in development globally, with three candidates already being tested in human trials, according to the World Health Organisation, as drugmakers race to find a cure for the deadly pathogen.

The furthest along in the clinical process is an experimental vaccine developed by Hong Kong-listed CanSino Biologics and the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, which is in Phase 2.

The other two being tested in humans are treatments developed separately by US drugmakers Moderna and Inovio Pharmaceuticals, according to a WHO document.

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) emerged in late 2019 in China’s Hubei province, and the virus has spread to 210 countries and territories since then.

To date, COVID-19 cases surpassed 1,800,000 globally, resulting in more than 400,000 recoveries and over 100,000 deaths.

On February 11, the WHO officially named the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) as COVID-19, and on March 11, declared it a pandemic.