A global coronavirus vaccine could be developed in six months in Queensland by experts who thought they "had three years".

The University of Queensland received a request by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) after a team at the university invented technology to speed up the process that would usually take years.

UQ Vice-Chancellor and president Professor Peter Høj, Dr Keith Chappell from UQ's School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences and Professor Trent Munro at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology. Credit:Jocelyn Garcia

A team of 20 experts is using a molecular clamp that provides stability to the viral protein, the primary target of our immune defence.

UQ Vice-Chancellor and president Peter Høj said the technology was tested in the laboratory against other viruses such as Ebola and SARS.