Sinovac Biotech gets approval to begin coronavirus vaccine trial

Coronavirus vaccine trial : Chinese biopharma company Sinovac Biotech has secured approval to carry out a human clinical trial on an inactivated COVID-19 vaccine candidate, which it had been developing since late January.

The company said that its scientists have quickly wrapped up comprehensive preclinical studies in collaboration with some of the top academic research institutes in China. As part of the efforts, Sinovac Biotech said that an animal challenge study demonstrated that the vaccine candidate protected the subjects without antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE).

Apart from that, the coronavirus vaccine candidate can neutralize virus strains from various countries, which backs the potential of using it to stop the spread of COVID-19 across the world.

Weidong Yin – Chairman, President, and CEO of Sinovac Biotech, commenting on the coronavirus vaccine trial, said: “At present, the whole world is facing an unprecedented public health crisis. It is a matter of urgency to develop an effective vaccine to control the spread of COVID-19 globally, as quickly as possible. Sinovac has been working closely with the regulators in China in order to make this happen. Sinovac has always been committed to developing vaccines for global use when facing pandemics.”

The Chinese biopharma company is engaged in researching, developing, manufacturing, and commercialization of vaccines that give immunity against human infectious diseases. The product portfolio of Sinovac Biotech includes vaccines against hepatitis A and B, enterovirus71 (EV71), seasonal influenza, H1N1 influenza (swine flu), H5N1 pandemic influenza (avian flu), varicella vaccine, and mumps.