Taiwan-based vaccine maker Adimmune Corporation has announced that a candidate vaccine for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) could be ready for animal trials as soon as May.

CNA on Monday (March 9) cited Adimmune as stating that it had recently signed a letter of intent with the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) to cooperate on developing a reagent and vaccine for COVID-19. The company said that if the development of the vaccine goes smoothly, it should be able to begin animal trials in May.

In January, the company benefited from the centralized delivery of Taiwan's quadrivalent influenza vaccine, which includes H1N1, H3N2, and two kinds of B influenza (Victoria and Yamagata). After raking in record profits, the firm began work on a second sterile pre-filled syringe production line last month.

As it started constructing the new line, production on the original was completely suspended, resulting in a steep decline in revenue in February. During that month, the company only saw NT$4.59 million in revenue, a 98.7 percent month-on-month drop and a 78.8 percent drop for the year, according to the report.

Despite the hit it took on the new production line, Adimmune generated NT$361 million in January, an increase of 935 percent over the same period last year, reported CNA. The company said that the construction of the second pre-filled syringe line is currently underway at its plant, which is limiting the use of the original production line.

This construction has caused a temporary shutdown, and this year's production schedule has also had to be adjusted to accommodate the project, according to the company. This is expected to adversely affect operations in the first quarter, with annual repairs slated for April.

Full-scale operations are next expected to resume at the plant in May, when production can ramp up to meet the peak season demand in the second half of the year. Adimmune said that the syringe line is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2021.

When both filling lines begin operations next year, the company's production capacity will be increased several times Adimmune said that once the new one is operational, it will be able to fully supply orders both at home and abroad.

Adimmune pointed out that after the World Health Organization (WHO) announced this year's influenza vaccine strain in the northern hemisphere, the company immediately started the production of the original solution of the seasonal influenza vaccine to meet the needs of this year's influenza epidemic prevention efforts. Adimmune will also carry out clinical trials of an influenza vaccine for children aged six months to three years.

© Pakistan Press International, source Asianet-Pakistan