Third-stage testing of Chinese Covid-19 vaccines continues
November 3, 2020 Category Health, Weekly
China National Pharmaceutical Group Co (Sinopharm), is stepping up efforts to develop Covid-19 vaccine candidates, the China Daily reports. Third-stage clinical trials of its two inactivated vaccine candidates, developed by the company’s vaccine and bioscience subsidiary China National Biotech Group (CNBG), are being conducted in 10 countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Jordan, Argentina, Egypt and Peru, said Liu Jinzhen, the company’s Chairman. Currently, there are around 60,000 volunteers, as people from more than 125 nations joined the vaccine trials, he said.
According to an October 19 document from the World Health Organization (WHO), there are 44 Covid-19 candidate vaccines in clinical evaluation, among which 10 have reached the final stage of testing. China currently has 13 vaccine candidates in clinical trials, and among them three inactivated vaccines and one adenovirus vector vaccine are in phase three trials overseas, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology. Dozens of countries have already contacted CNBG to express interest in buying the vaccines once they have received official approval, according to Liu. Both vaccines have already been approved for emergency use in China in high-risk groups, such as frontline medical personnel, border staff, and people traveling overseas to work.
CNBG has completed building high biosafety production bases with a capacity that will exceed one billion doses next year to meet widespread demand for vaccination. Shanghai Geneodx Biotech Co, an affiliate of CNBG, is also one of the first three companies in China to develop coronavirus test kits, and CNBG is the first in China to develop convalescent plasma treatment for Covid-19 patients. Sinopharm ranked 169th on the Fortune Global 500 last year, and fourth among pharmaceutical companies, the China Daily reports.
After four days of nucleic acid testing of 4.7 million people in Kashgar prefecture in Xinjiang 61 new infections were discovered, bringing the total to 273 – 54 confirmed and 219 asymptomatic cases. Still, the risk that the virus would spread was small, epidemiologists said. Kashgar city remains open and outbound tourists are allowed to leave with a negative nucleic acid report and only the four most affected villages were labeled as high-risk areas. Epidemiologists are still looking for the source of the infection. Most infections are concentrated in Shufu county, but some were also detected in neighboring Akto county.
Despite sporadic outbreaks, a second wave of Covid-19 infections is not likely to happen in China thanks to forceful prevention and control, according to China’s leading respiratory disease expert Zhong Nanshan. Although the pandemic may worsen in most countries in the northern hemisphere, there is little possibility for the coronavirus to hit hard again in China, he added.
China has issued a draft regulation on compulsory insurance for Chinese vaccine manufacturers, saying it will better protect the legal rights of vaccine recipients and strengthen oversight of the industry. The draft regulation, released by the National Medical Products Administration for a month of public consultation, includes mandatory liability insurance for all licensed vaccine suppliers on the Chinese mainland to ensure they can provide compensation for recipients injured or killed by substandard vaccines. It mandates the establishment of a nationwide minimum liability limit, with at least CNY500,000 in compensation for a death and indemnities for injuries. “The overall safety and quality of domestic vaccines is well guaranteed. But vaccine products, from China or overseas, always carry inevitable risks, so devising an adequate compensation mechanism in advance is necessary,” said Du Yifang, Law Professor at Fudan University in Shanghai. China’s Drug Administration Law, which also applies to vaccines, already stipulates that people harmed by substandard drugs are entitled to compensation.
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