Photo:Xinhua

Medical researchers at home and abroad are working swiftly to develop a vaccine targeting the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which has 9,731 confirmed cases in China and 101 cases overseas as of 2 pm on Friday.

The Shanghai East Hospital, a hospital affiliated with Tongji University, is working on the development of an mRNA vaccine together with biotechnology company Stermirna Therapeutics. The project has been approved and filed, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.

No more than 40 days will be needed to manufacture vaccine samples based on the new generation of mRNA technology and some preliminary procedures, said CEO of Stermirna Therapeutics Li Hangwen.

China's prestigious Tsinghua University is also stepping up its development of a vaccine.

Zhang Linqi, head of Tsinghua's research team and professor of the university's School of Medicine, said he hopes his team can successfully design safe and effective drugs and a vaccine "at the fastest speed and of the highest quality," according to the university's website.

Researchers at the University of Hong Kong said they have "already developed a vaccine" for the virus, media reported.

Yuen Kwok-yung, the university's chair of infectious diseases, said his team has already produced the vaccine but it will take months to test on animals before human trials, according to a South China Morning Post article on Tuesday.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it has successfully isolated the virus and is working to identify a seed strain.

"The next step is to expedite the application and declaration of a vaccine during the pilot-scale experiment," Xu Wenbo, head of the National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention under the CDC, told China Central Television (CCTV) on January 26.

Local CDC branches in southern Guangdong Province and eastern Zhejiang Province announced that they successfully isolated the virus during the Chinese New Year holiday, which began on January 24 and was previously scheduled to end on January 30 of this year.

China has extended the holiday to February 2 due to the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Overseas scientists are also racing to develop a vaccine for the virus. 

Australian researchers announced earlier this week that they were the first to grow the virus in a lab outside of China.

They are aiming to meet a 16-week deadline to test a vaccine on humans following initial testing on ferrets, reported abc.net.au on Friday.

US healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson said it is optimistic about the progress of the its vaccine development.

Its Chief Scientific Officer Paul Stoffels told CNBC on Monday that he is "pretty confident" that they can create a vaccine in the coming months to fight the virus. 

Biotechnology companies including Inovio Pharmaceuticals and Moderna Therapeutics also claimed they are working to design a vaccine targeting the virus.

Global Times