Australian scientists are aiming to hit a 16-week deadline to test vaccine for the coronavirus on humans, after the CSIRO animal testing facility in Geelong today received the lab-grown version of the disease.

Key points: Australia is the first country outside China to have a lab-grown copy of the virus

Australia is the first country outside China to have a lab-grown copy of the virus It is hoped having a copy of the virus will give scientists a better chance to quickly develop a vaccine

It is hoped having a copy of the virus will give scientists a better chance to quickly develop a vaccine The CSIRO's high-containment facility houses a number of deadly viruses and is one of a few places in the world that does this work

This week, Australian scientists announced they were the first outside of China to grow the virus in a lab.

Now, the virus has been sent to one of Australia's most-secure scientific labs, the CSIRO's Australian Animal Health Lab, where scientists will become the first to test and examine the grown virus to learn more about how it is behaving.

It is a "high-containment facility" that houses some of the world's most deadly viruses such as Ebola, Zika and SARS.

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Speaking on Friday morning, director of health and biosecurity Rob Grenfell said from their early knowledge coronavirus was "60 to 70 per cent" similar to SARS, but the delivery of the lab-grown version would enable them to better understand it.

Dr Grenfell said they were aiming for a 16-week deadline to test a vaccine on humans, with any vaccine first tested on ferrets.

"Over [the next] month we will have characterised the virus, and we will understand how it works in a biological platform and then we will be ready to trial any potential vaccines," he said.

"And then it moves on to human trials."

However CSIRO virology expert Trevor Drew said there were still many unknowns with the disease.

"We see the disease in China seems to be falling into two different types," he said.

"There's the milder acute disease, and there seems to be a more severe lung infection that occurs a bit later on.

"We don't know whether that's to do with new strains of the virus.

"It's very new, it's diversifying quite rapidly [and] we don't know whether it's the [infected] people's immune response. And that may well complicate the design of a vaccine."

Australian scientists were the first to grow coronavirus in a lab outside China. ( Supplied: CSIRO )

Professor Bill Rawlinson from NSW Health Pathology and the University of New South Wales said having the newly grown coronavirus was an enormous step forward for testing anti-viral drugs.

"Currently, there are about 230 potential treatments for the new coronavirus being trialled around the world," he said.

"By having the live virus, we can test the antivirals in a test tube, which means we can get some idea of which ones might be working against this virus and which ones to take forward into trials."

Scientists from the University of Queensland are using new technology to develop a vaccine within just four months.

This week's developments help make that goal more achievable. \

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Lab key to vaccine research

The high-containment facility in Geelong houses samples of some of the world's most dangerous viruses, like Zika, Ebola and SARS. ( Supplied: CSIRO )

For bio-security reasons, nobody will discuss how the virus is transported from one facility to the other, but they say the process is very secure.

CSIRO virology expert Trevor Drew said the virus was handled in cabinets where there was no direct contact between the material and the scientists.

"If we have to, we can put on very elaborate suits with their own filtered air supply," he said.

Dr Grenfell said the Australian Animal Health Laboratory was one of the premier institutes for handling dangerous pathogens.

"The centre at Geelong is one of the few places on Earth that can actually do this type of work," he said.

About 230 potential coronavirus treatments are being trialled around the world. ( Supplied: CSIRO )

"We have been involved over many years in global efforts to deal with such diseases as Ebola, Zika."

Scientists in China had shared genetic information about the virus so physicians in other countries could diagnose the new coronavirus in patients.

But they had not shared an actual copy of the virus, so the availability of the Australian-grown version means scientists are now able to test possible vaccines.