China's CanSino Biologics in talks with other nations for Phase III COVID-19 vaccine trial

Chinese vaccine developer CanSino Biologics is reportedly in talks with Russia, Brazil, Chile, and Saudi Arabia for Phase III trial of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Qiu Dongxu, executive director and co-founder of CanSino, told an anti-viral drug development conference that the company is contacting those countries but nothing has been finalised yet.

China has successfully flattened the coronavirus infection curve and the low number of active cases has made it difficult for companies to conduct large-scale vaccine trials. Qiu said that the firm plans to recruit 40,000 participants for the Phase III trial which is likely to start “pretty soon”, without giving a specific date for the kick-off.

The vaccine candidate, Ad5-nCoV, has been jointly developed by CanSino and the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology in the Academy of Military Medical Sciences. According to media reports, both the initial phases of clinical testing of the candidate vaccine has displayed its potential of preventing COVID-19.

Ad5-nCov was the first COVID-19 vaccine candidate in China to go ahead with human testing in March but has been lagging in trial progress since two other experimental vaccines developed by Sinovac Biotech and a unit of China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) have already been approved for Phase III trials.

Read: CanSino's Vaccine For COVID-19 Gets Nod For Military Use In China

Other vaccine candidates

Sinovac Biotech, the first company in the world to market H1N1 vaccine, received the approval to conduct phase I and phase II study on its inactivated vaccine candidate against COVID-19 in April. The pharma company had commenced the phase I trial and administered the drug on 144 healthy adults aged 18-59 years.

Sinovac CEO Weidong Yin said in a statement that the vaccine candidate induced SARS-CoV-2-specific neutralizing antibodies in mice, rats, and non-human primates, specifically the rhesus macaque. The results showed that the vaccine candidate offered safe and complete protection in rhesus macaques against SARS- CoV-2 strains, he added.

“As we begin our phase I trials, we will also accelerate the progress of our research in order to support the worldwide fight against COVID-19. Sinovac remains committed to developing vaccines for global use,” said Weidong.

Read: Russian Scientists Successfully Complete World’s First COVID-19 Vaccine Trial

(Representational Image: pixabay)