An Anglo-Italian partnership is on the frontline in the development of a coronavirus vaccine, which could be ready in September, researchers said. The venture brings together Italian company Advent-IRBM -- based in the city of Pomezia, south of Rome -- and the Jenner Institute of the University of Oxford. The team has accelerated human testing of the vaccine, which will start in the U.K. at the end of April.

“In light of the data acquired in the last few weeks, the first batch of the vaccine will leave for England, where tests will start on 550 healthy volunteers,” said Piero Di Lorenzo, the CEO and founder of Advent-IRBM. Di Lorenzo explained that the team has decided to move forward with human tests after they confirmed the “non-toxicity” of the vaccine, which resulted from effective laboratory tests.