Seven months after the emergence of the worst global health crisis in a century, the race is on to find the medical equivalent of the Holy Grail - a Covid-19 vaccine.
To date, the novel coronavirus has killed about 590,000 people worldwide and infected close to 14 million in 196 countries since the outbreak first emerged in China late last year.
How to stop in its tracks a pandemic which has wreaked havoc on the world economy is now the pressing multi-billion-dollar issue for vaccine developers.
Earlier today, it was reported that hackers backed by the Russian state were trying to steal Covid-19 vaccine and treatment research from academic and pharmaceutical institutions around the world, according to Britain's National Cyber Security