Coronavirus Vaccine By Chinese Firm Shows Promising Human Test Results

The early human test results for a potential coronavirus vaccine in China proved to be successful. On Sunday, Chinese firm China National Biotech Group (CNBG) said the results of the human test for the vaccine suggested that the shot could be safe and effective for human use.

The experimental coronavirus vaccine being developed by CNBG has induced high-level antibodies in all the inoculated participants in the Phase ½ clinical trial involving 1,120 healthy people. In a social media post by CNBG, the company revealed that the experimental shot was the second vaccine candidate from the company to show promising results.

Earlier this month, CNBG announced that another coronavirus vaccine developed by their unit in Wuhan showed potential in the clinical trials. During the said trials, the vaccine successfully triggered the production of high-level antibodies in the clinical trial participants.

While the preliminary results showed great potential, CNBG said in a statement that the vaccine still has to prove its effectiveness in the third phase of the human test. The company said on Tuesday that it will run a Phase 3 human test for its coronavirus vaccine candidate in the United Arab Emirates.

On June 23, CNBG confirmed that it had agreed with authorities in the UAE to start Phase III trials for their inactivated vaccine candidate. Experts said that if the human trials go well overseas, then the third phase of the trial will be closed in August. This will be followed by medical observation in September. The coronavirus vaccine could then be approved for marketing at the end of October.

However, mass production of inactivated vaccines is facing the initial challenge of insufficient capacity. On Sunday, experts revealed that each person would need two doses of the inactivated vaccine to protect themselves from the coronavirus.

“Each person needs two doses of the inactivated vaccine to evoke an immune response, and 200 million doses would only meet the immunization needs of 100 million people,” said Shanghai-based vaccine expert Tao Lina. “This is still far from enough for China and the world at a time when vaccines are urgently needed,” she added.

China is one of the major front runners in the race to come up with a vaccine that will work against the coronavirus. So far, Chinese companies and scientists have been able to test eight coronavirus vaccine candidates in humans both in China and abroad.