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Le médecin cherche un traitement, voire un vaccin.

Le médecin cherche un traitement, voire un vaccin.
The doctor is looking for a treatment, and even a vaccine.
From Lesson 402:Addition and escalation (voire)·French

Questions & Answers about Le médecin cherche un traitement, voire un vaccin.

What exactly does voire add to this sentence that et (and) wouldn't?
The word voire introduces an escalation or a stronger alternative. While et just links two things, voire translates to "and even" or "if not". Here, it shows that finding a vaccine is an even better, more ambitious goal than just finding a treatment.
Why isn't there a word for "for" after cherche? Shouldn't it be cherche pour?
English speakers often make this mistake! The French verb chercher inherently means "to look for". It takes a direct object without a preposition, so adding pour would be like saying "is looking for for a treatment" in English.
Is voire related to the verb voir (to see)?
No, despite sounding exactly the same, they are completely unrelated. voire is a conjunction used for escalation, deriving from an old Latin word meaning "truly". Just remember that the conjunction always takes an e at the end.
I sometimes hear native speakers say voire même. Could we use that here?
You will definitely hear native speakers say voire même un vaccin in everyday spoken French. However, grammarians consider it a redundancy because voire already contains the idea of "even" (même). For your B2 exams and formal writing, it is best to stick to just voire.

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