U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc has signed a deal with Germany’s BioNTech SE to co-develop a potential vaccine for the coronavirus using BioNTech’s mRNA-based drug development platform, Reuters reported.

The drugmakers will start the collaboration immediately and have signed a letter of intent for the vaccine’s distribution outside China, they said in a joint statement.

Pfizer and BioNTech will use research and development sites from both companies, including in the United States and Germany, the companies said.

Human tests start in China in late April

BioNTech on Monday struck a collaboration deal with Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical over its rights in China to its experimental coronavirus vaccine, aiming to start testing on humans from late April.

The race is on to develop an immunization, which is seen as by far the most effective tool to halt the global spread of the pathogen.

Moderna Inc. started early stage clinical trial in US

Rival Moderna Inc, which is working with the U.S. National Institutes of Health, on Monday announced that it dosed the first patient with its experimental coronavirus vaccine in an early-stage trial.

 
Pfizer already collaborates with BioNTech to develop mRNA-based vaccines for influenza.