China Approves Clinical Trials for Two COVID-19 Vaccines in Humans

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The Chinese government has approved human clinical trials for two vaccines developed to prevent the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). Globally, it is known that about 70 vaccine development projects are underway.

According to foreign media such as CNBC on the 14th, the Chinese government announced through the state-run Xinhua News Agency that the China National Medical Products Administration approved human clinical trials for vaccines developed by Sinovac Biotech, a Nasdaq-listed American company, and the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products under the state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group Corporation.

Earlier last month, Chinese authorities approved clinical trials for a COVID-19 vaccine candidate jointly developed by the Chinese Academy of Military Medical Sciences and CanSino Biologics, a company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. This approval came shortly after Moderna, a U.S. company, announced the start of human clinical trials for its vaccine in collaboration with the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Accordingly, the expert team led by Director Chen Wei of the military medical research group completed the first phase of clinical trials by the 2nd of this month and began the second phase on the 12th.

So far, approximately 70 COVID-19 vaccine development projects have been reported to the World Health Organization (WHO). Among these, two projects in China and two projects in the U.S., including those by Moderna and Inovio Pharmaceuticals, are in the human clinical trial phase. The remaining projects are reportedly still in the preclinical stage, prior to human clinical trials.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.