SUZHOU/BEIJING (CHINA) – Chinese pharmaceutical company CanSino Biologics is holding discussions with Russia, Brazil, Chile and Saudi Arabia to initiate a Phase III trial of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine.
The country’s success in scaling down the infection rates has made it tough to conduct large-scale vaccine trials. Only a few countries have agreed to work with China on that aspect.
“We are contacting Russia, Brazil, Chile and Saudi Arabia (for the Phase III trial), and it’s still in discussion,” Qiu Dongxu, executive director and co-founder of CanSino, said.
The trial is slated to begin soon and the firm plans to rope in 40,000 participants for the test.
Its vaccine candidate, Ad5-nCov, became the first in the country to proceed to human testing in March. However, it is running behind other potential vaccines when it comes to trial progress. Two experimental vaccines developed by Sinovac Biotech and a unit of China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) have received the nod for Phase III trials.
Qiu said the Phase II trial conducted in 508 people has yielded “much better” results than the Phase I with regard to the safety and ability to trigger immune response.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field