Coronavirus Vaccine: Sinovac Biotech claims positive results during trials

New Delhi : Chinese vaccine-maker Sinovac Biotech has claimed "positive preliminary" results of phase I and II clinical trials for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, CoronaVac.

The phase I/II clinical trials was designed as randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled studies. In total, 743 healthy volunteers, aged from 18 to 59 years old, enrolled in the trials.

Of those, 143 volunteers are in phase I and 600 volunteers are in phase II, the Beijing-based company said in a statement.

According to the lab, the vaccine was able to build immune system against coronavirus in 90% of the tested volunteers and it showed no major side effect on the human body.

The company expects to submit a phase II clinical study report and a phase III clinical study protocol to China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) soon and commence application of phase III clinical trials outside of China.

For phase 3 of clinical tests, Sinovac is collaborating with Brazil's Instituto Butantan.

The company expects to share the full data on our clinical trials with the public through academic publications.

Weidong Yin, Chairman, President and CEO of Sinovac, said, “Our phase I/II study shows CoronaVac is safe and can induce an immune response. “Concluding our phase I/II clinical studies with these encouraging results is another significant milestone we have achieved in the fight against COVID-19,” Weidong said.

“We have started to invest in building a manufacturing facility so that we can maximize the number of doses available to protect people from COVID-19. Like with our other vaccines, we are committed to developing CoronaVac for global use as part of our mission of supplying vaccines to eliminate human diseases,” he said.

It has started developing the vaccine in January this year. The company received approval from China’s NMPA on April 13 to conduct phase I/II trials on its inactivated vaccine candidate against COVID-19 in China.