Countries, companies risk billions in race for coronavirus vaccine

Virus vaccine research

In the race to develop a vaccine to end the COVID-19 pandemic, governments, charities and Big Pharma firms are sinking billions of dollars into bets with extraordinarily low odds of success.

They’re fast-tracking the testing and regulatory review of vaccines with no guarantee they will prove effective. They’re building and re-tooling plants for vaccines with slim chances of being approved. They’re placing orders for vaccines that, in the end, are unlikely to be produced.