SHANGHAI, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- A team of Shanghai researchers announced that they have successfully isolated and identified the strain of the novel coronavirus from a patient sample.

The team consists of scientists from the Shanghai Medical College under Fudan University and the Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention. They have completed the genome sequencing and analysis.

This is the first strain of the novel coronavirus isolated in Shanghai. It will provide key resources for vaccine development, drug manufacturing and pathogenic mechanisms after further study, according to researchers.

Wen Yumei, head of the team and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said the virus isolation will help monitor the virus variation in real-time, carry out drug screening and antibody neutralization tests and accelerate the research progress of COVID-19.

A number of Shanghai institutes are pioneering in developing vaccines and agents against the novel coronavirus. Some have already conducted preclinical trials on animals. Enditem

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