Which companies are leading the coronavirus vaccine race? – Fox Business

Dr. Anthony Fauci testifies before Congress on coronavirus testing, treatment and vaccine development. FOX Business Edward Lawrence with more.

Companies based in the U.S. and abroad are competing for funds to develop a coronavirus vaccine as soon as possible.

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Experts say developing such a vaccine can take years and billions of dollars, but already vaccine testing is underwayin countries includingthe United States andSouth Korea.

Billionaire Bill Gates, who has contributed millions to the fights against the virus,saidin Junethat he's most encouraged by the three vaccine candidates made by Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. Gates believes it is possible to scale up to 10 billion doses of a successful vaccine in two years in order to achieve global herd immunity, he said according to Forbes.

A researcher at Protein Sciences moves a vial in a lab, Thursday, March 12, 2020, in Meriden, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

There are 172 COVID-19 vaccines in development and 13 in clinical testing, according to tracking by the Milken Institute.

Here are some of the companies furthest ahead inpursuing coronavirus prevention:

Massachusetts-basedModerna Therapeuticswas the first U.S. company to get acoronavirusvaccine ready for human testing. Its CEO said the company would put the vaccine at thesame price pointas similar existing vaccines.

Moderna is set to test its vaccine on 30,000 volunteers starting in July.

United Kingdom-based AstraZeneca is partnering with Oxford University to deliver a coronavirus vaccine to European countries including France and Germany should the vaccine be proven effective.

Testing began in April.

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Johnson & Johnson's pharmaceutical company Janssen worked with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, part of Harvard Medical School, to test and select its lead coronavirus vaccine candidate in March.

Johnson & Johnson plans to start human clinical studies in July.

The company has partnered with the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, which is part of theDepartment of Health and Human Services, to commit to investing more than $1 billion infighting the coronavirus.

Jennifer Haller, left, receives the first shot in the first-stage safety study for a potential COVID-19 vaccine for at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Inovio Pharmaceuticals is a Pennsylvania-based biotech company that received a$71 million grantfrom the Department of Defense on June 23to scale up its Cellectra intradermal DNA vaccine delivery device.

Inovio already received $10 million from billionaire Bill Gates'Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovationsto accelerate testing of the device.

Inoviosaidit created a coronavirus vaccinehours after getting access to thegenetic sequence in mid-January.

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China-based CanSino received the go-ahead to begin human clinical testing inChina.CanSino is known for creating the first Ebola vaccine to gain approval anywhere in the world.

The company releaseddata from its first round of testing, which it said warranted "further investigation,"in late May, BioSpace reported.

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Which companies are leading the coronavirus vaccine race? - Fox Business