BEIJING — A candidate vaccine targeting the novel coronavirus has been tested on animals, according to a report on Feb 10 on news portal yicai.com, citing sources with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The mRNA vaccine was co-developed by the CDC, Shanghai-based Tongji University School of Medicine and Stermirna Therapeutics Co Ltd. The vaccine samples were injected into more than 100 mice on Feb 9, the report said.

This came just two weeks after the center successfully isolated the first new coronavirus strain on Jan 24.

A CDC official warned that the animal testing is in a very early stage of vaccine development and there are still many steps to be taken before the vaccine is ready to be used on humans.

Testing on mice is only an initial screening of a candidate vaccine. After that there will be toxicity tests on larger animals such as monkeys to ensure the safety of the vaccine in human clinical trials, said the report, citing a researcher of Tongji University.

The development and production cycle of the mRNA vaccine is shorter than that of traditional vaccines.

A number of research institutes and companies around the world are stepping up efforts in developing vaccines and agents against the novel coronavirus, which has already caused 40,171 confirmed cases in China as of Feb 9.