CEPI to invest $66 mln to boost Clover's COVID-19 vaccine trial

July 8 (Reuters) - China's Clover Biopharmaceuticals Inc has received $66 million in investment from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI) to bolster the testing of a potential COVID-19 vaccine, the global epidemic response group said on Wednesday.

Last month, Clover became the sixth Chinese developer of a potential COVID-19 vaccine to move into human trials by launching a study in Australia to test its vaccine with boosters.

The foundation said the funding aims to help produce hundreds of millions of doses of the potential vaccine per year and if the early stage trials are successful, it expects to provide "significant" additional support.

On successful completion of trials, the vaccine will be made available globally, it said.

CEPI's latest investment in Clover comes on top of an initial $3.5 million in funding when they announced a partnership in April.

The Oslo, Norway-based group was set up in 2017 to fight emerging epidemics and is backed by 14 governments, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Britain's Wellcome Trust.

CEPI has deployed vast sums of money in search of a COVID-19 vaccine through partnerships with drug developers including Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc, Moderna Inc, and Novavax Inc. (Reporting by Vishal Vivek)