First COVID-19 Inactivated Vaccine Performs Well in Clinical Trials

The blind review of the phase 1 and 2 clinical trials of COVID-19 inactivated vaccine, which was also a periodical unblinding event, was held in Beijing and Henan province on June 28.

The result of the unblinding preliminarily showed that the vaccine, jointly developed by Beijing  Institute  of  Biological  Products Co., Ltd.  of China National Biotec Group Company Limited (CNBG), a subsidiary of China National Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. (Sinopharm), and the National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, is safe to use and that different vaccination procedures and dosages lead to high-tier antibodies.

The trials are currently the longest clinical study with the most completed and best results.

The first vaccines were approved to be used in clinical trials on April 27 and the phase 1 and 2 trials were soon started in Shangqiu of Henan.

The trials were random, double-blinded and placebo-controlled.

The health volunteers for the vaccination trials, aged from 18 to 59, were separated into several groups to give different dosages by different procedures.

So far, 1,120 volunteers have received their second dose.

While promoting development of the vaccine, CNBG is advancing construction of the high-level bio-safety production facility.

China's first and the only high-level bio-safety production facility was built by Beijing  Institute  of  Biological  Products Co., Ltd.  on April 15, and is expected to produce 120 million doses of novel coronavirus vaccine annually.

In addition to that institute, Wuhan  Institute  of  Biological  Products Co., Ltd in Central China's Hubei province, is also been devoted to vaccine development.

A launch ceremony of Sinopharm's phase 3 clinical trial of COVID-19 vaccine in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was recently held by video conference connecting Abu Dhabi of the UAE with Beijing and Wuhan in China on June 23.

That trial has opened a new era of international cooperation on COVID-19 vaccine study and will play a significant role in promoting widespread vaccine application.

(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)