A Coronavirus vaccine will probably not be ready for use before the end of 2021 at the earliest, according to the chief executive of the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche.
Dozens of teams of researchers across the world are racing to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, in order to stem the spread of coronavirus infections, bring down death rates, and allow countries to reopen their economies.
However, Severin Schwan, Roche's chief executive, said he was skeptical that a vaccine can be fully tested, manufactured, and widely distributed within the next 12 to 18 months.
"I'm afraid that the most likely scenario is that we will not have a vaccine before the end of next year," Schwan said on a conference call with reporters, adding the 18-month timeline is "very ambitious."
He said that antibody tests, rather than a vaccine, would be key to allowing people to return to normal life before 2021.
The blood tests, which Roche plan to launch on the market in May, will determine whether someone has had the COVID-19 disease.
That, in turn, could allow the population to gradually return to work because they will have an assumed ongoing immunity to the virus.
Some researchers are more optimistic about a vaccine being produced this year.