Djokovic holds 80per cent of Danish biotech developing COVID treatment - CEO

COPENHAGEN :Tennis champion Novak Djokovic has an 80per cent stake of Danish biotech firm QuantBioRes, which is aiming to develop a medical treatment to counter COVID-19, the company's chief executive told Reuters on Wednesday.

CEO Ivan Loncarevic, who described himself as an entrepreneur, said the investment was made in June 2020 but declined to say how much it was.

QuantBioRes has around 11 researchers working in Denmark, Australia and Slovenia, according to Loncarevic, who stressed they were working on a treatment, not a vaccine.

The company is developing a peptide, which inhibits the coronavirus from infecting the human cell, expects to launch clinical trials in Britain this summer, he added.

A spokesperson for Djokovic did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The tennis number one has stoked global debate about the rights of people who opt not to get vaccinated after he was deported from Australia on Sunday night, ruling him out of the Australian Open.

(Reporting by Nikolaj Skydsgaard;Editing by Alison Williams and Pravin Char)