China is forging ahead in the race to develop a vaccine to help control the coronavirus pandemic, with Sinovac Biotech’s experimental vaccine set to become the country’s second and the world’s third to enter final stage testing later this month.
CHINA ALLOWED TWO COMPANIES TO COMBINE PHASE I AND PHASE II
While a laggard in the global vaccine industry, China, where the new coronavirus is thought to have originated, has brought state, military and private sectors together in a quest to combat a disease that has killed over 500,000 people worldwide.
Many other countries, including the United States, are coordinating closely with the private sector to try to win the vaccine development race, and China faces many challenges.
Four of the Chinese candidates in human trials are inactivated vaccines, including Sinovac’s and two vaccines from China National Biotec Group (CNBG), a unit of state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm).
There are currently only two experimental coronavirus vaccines in final Phase III trials – one from Sinopharm and another from AstraZeneca (AZN.L) and the University of Oxford. Sinovac’s is set to become the third later this month.
To speed up the process, China allowed Sinopharm and Sinovac to combine Phase I and Phase II trials for their vaccine candidates.