COVID-19 vaccine developed by China to include 50,000 people in phase 3 clinical trial

Taking China's research for COVID-19 vaccine a step further, a Chinese pharmaceutical company has said on September 5 that around 50,000 people across several countries are participating in the final phase of clinical trials of its vaccine candidate for the deadly disease caused by the novel coronavirus. China National Biotec Group (CNBG) reportedly said in a statement carried by ANI that phase 3 clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate is “significantly accelerating”  including countries such as UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, Peru, Argentina among others. 

"The third phase of clinical trials of the inactivated CNBG vaccine against COVID-19 is significantly accelerating, and clinical trials are already underway in several countries, including Bahrain, UAE, Morocco, Peru, Argentina, with about 50,000 people participating," the CNGB said.

Meanwhile, CNBG and Sinovac Biotech Ltd have also said on September 5 that they each have found two more countries to run their late-stage clinical tests. While Serbia and Pakistan agreed to participate in CNBG’s trial, Turkey and Bangladesh are now a part of Sinovac vaccine trials as China continues to ramp up its efforts to get a suitable vaccine to COVID-19. According to international media reports, Serbia will test two vaccines developed by CNBG units at Wuhan and Beijing and Pakistan will only test the one developed by the Beijing unit. 

CNBG vice president Zhang Yuntao has also told an international media agency that apart from the participation of at least 10 countries in phase 3 clinical trials of their vaccine candidate, several foreign countries have expressed their interest in ordering a combined 500 million doses of its vaccines. The company would be able to produce at least 300 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate every year that too only after upgrading of its manufacturing techniques. 

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WHO chief scientist on COVID-19 vaccine distribution

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization's (WHO) chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan has said on September 4 that the global distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine on a mass level may only be able to take place by mid-2021. This came as the worldwide the novel coronavirus infections are nearing 30 million with more than 4.1 million in India alone. The global death toll has mounted to 880,008 as per Johns Hopkins University tally and India has recorded more than 70k deaths.  

"So realistically speaking, probably the second half, the middle of 2021 - maybe the second quarter, the third quarter of 2021 - is when we can start seeing doses actually flowing into countries so that they can start to immunize their populations," Swaminathan said while addressing a press briefing.

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(With inputs from agencies)

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