GUWAHATI: A team of Italian scientists has claimed to have developed a couple of vaccines that they claim neutralises the novel coronavirus in human cells.
The breakthrough development made by the researchers at Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases in Rome could be among the most visible progress amongst hundreds of experimental vaccines being tested across the world in the hunt for a cure for the dreaded respiratory illness.
The corona virus has caused a global pandemic and visibly sunk the economy into a recession. So far, at least 2.50 lakh people have died from COVID-19 and 30 lakh cases have been confirmed in 195 countries and territories since the outbreak first emerged in China last December.
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While G Plus could not independently verify the claims of the vaccine, reports suggest that this is the most advanced stage of testing of a candidate vaccine created in Italy.
The vaccine candidates currently being developed are based on the genetic material of DNA protein "spike". Researchers said the vaccine will be injected intramuscularly which will be followed by a brief electrical impulse.
Luigi Aurisicchio, CEO of Takis, the firm developing the medication, said that a coronavirus candidate vaccine has neutralised the virus in human cells for the first time, the Arab News reported.
The report quoted Aurisicchio as saying that the company was keen to collaborate internationally to speed up the process of development of the vaccine.
Ordinarily, it takes at least five years to develop a vaccine but experts say that period could be shorter in this case.