As the deadly coronavirus has spread across the globe — already killing 41 people and infecting almost 1,300 — a biotech company in Cambridge is partnering with the federal government to develop a vaccine.
Cambridge-based Moderna announced Thursday they are collaborating with the National Institutes of Health to develop a vaccine for the highly contagious virus, after receiving funding from the international Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.
“We are honored to be supporting NIH and CEPI in their mission to identify a potential vaccine to prevent infection,” Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, said in a statement. “Advances in global public health require the collective effort of public-private partnerships — no organization can act alone.”
The outbreak is believed to have started late last month when people picked it up at a fresh food market in Wuhan, China.
So far, two people have been diagnosed with the virus in the United States.
Officials announced Friday that a Chicago woman in her 60s became the second U.S. patient to be diagnosed, after she returned from China on Jan. 13 without showing any signs of illness, but three or four days later she called her doctor to report feeling sick.
The first case in the U.S. was announced on Tuesday, after a citizen returned to Washington state from a trip to central China.
“We are pleased with the pace of our combined response to the emerging threat of the novel coronavirus,” Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, said in a statement. “Through our partnership with Moderna and the NIH, we hope to speed the development of a vaccine against the coronavirus and help to alleviate the burden of disease.”
On Wednesday night, nine passengers flying from Hong Kong to Boston were halted from immediately exiting the plane in order to be screened for the virus, which the Massachusetts Port Authority said was done “out of an abundance of caution.” None had any symptoms and were allowed to continue their trips.
The virus can cause fever, coughing, wheezing and pneumonia. It is a member of the coronavirus family that’s a close cousin to the deadly SARS and MERS viruses that have caused outbreaks in the past.
Herald Wire Services contributed to this report.
