Germany to invest €750 million on coronavirus vaccine
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The German Government has today announced a major funding effort, estimated to reach 750 million euro to develop and distribute a coronavirus vaccine. The big chunk of this funding is intended to support large-scale trials which researchers believe could help speed up the process.
Research Minister Anja Karliczek announced that around two-thirds of this amount will be allocated at trials, while the rest will support production capacity.”As soon as a vaccine is found and approved, production must be able to start quickly on a large scale both here in Germany and worldwide,” Karliczek said. She decribed vaccine development the “key” to returning to normal life.
A primary goal of the new funding program is to allow clinical trials to work with a larger number of participants from the start. Medical personnel or other essential workers could be included in the tests on a voluntary basis, Karliczek said.
Normally trials are conducted on a step-by-step basis with a small amount of participants at the beginning and are slowly expanded.
Germany is one of a number of countries around the world funding trials into vaccine development. According to the German-based Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies, 121 vaccine development programs are underway around the world. Late in April, a German biotech company has been given the go ahead to commence human trials on a potential coronavirus vaccine, but warned against having it ready anytime this year.
