A group of pharmaceutical industry leaders Wednesday said that a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, is 12 to 18 months away. But other therapies and treatments for COVID-19 and its related pneumonia could be much closer to prime time.

Julie Kim, president of plasma-derived therapies at Takeda, said while her company is not working on vaccines, it is working on other therapeutic options. That includes a “hyper immune globulin” that uses antibodies derived from plasma provided by donors who have fully recovered from COVID-19. “It’s not a treatment for everyone,” Kim said, and is most targeted for the sickest or high-risk patients. She’s hopeful that treatment will be available within nine to 18 months.

Another treatment in the works, from Sanofi, would address the pneumonia that comes from COVID-19. Clement Lewin, Ph.D., associate vice president for research and development strategy for vaccines at Sanofi, said his company is revisiting a program they were developing for the SARS outbreak ten years ago. The outbreak concluded before the therapy could be used, he said, but there is an indication their technology could work on COVID-19, he said.

A second project with Regeneron is a supportive treatment for the COVID-19 pneumonia. This is targeted at the damage pneumonia causes COVID-19 patients, not the virus itself. “This is not business as usual,” Lewin said.

PhRMA president and CEO Stephen J. Ubl said the industry is working around the clock on finding vaccines and other tests for COVID-19. That includes working with other life science companies to test for the virus, developing a “screening library” for possible treatments, working on vaccines, and developing new therapies to deal with the virus.

“We’re confident our industry will achieve a shared goal to beat the virus” based on “deep scientific knowledge” on previous viruses, such as SARS, MERS, HIV and Hepatitis C, Ubl said. There are more than 80 clinical trials going on right now, and he said an approved treatment could be ready in a matter of months. Companies also can ramp up production and will be prepared to supply vaccines when successful treatment candidates are identified.

Dr. Thomas Breuer, senior vice president and chief medical officer for GSK Vaccines, says he believes a vaccine is 12 to 18 months away. The pandemic can only be contained if government and industry work together, Breuer saud.

Lilly Research Labs hopes to be testing for a vaccine within the next four months, according to Dr. Daniel Skovronsky, Lilly’s chief scientific officer. The company, which worked with Dr. Jonas Salk to develop the polio vaccine, has obtained antibodies from the first person to recover from COVID-19, he said. The Indianapolis, Indiana-based company is also working with the Indiana department of public health to accelerate testing, which they are providing for free. “This is one contribution we can make,” he said.