China has 11 COVID-19 vaccines in clinical trials, four in phase III: Minister

The Minister of Science and Technology, Wang Zhigang, on September 18, informed that China is conducting clinical trials of 11 COVID-19 vaccines, four of which have entered phase III trials. While speaking at the Global Science and Life Health Forum in Beijing, Zhigang said that a batch of effective drugs and treatment methods was rapidly screened to form a treatment regimen suitable for coronavirus patients facing different stages of the infection. 

According to The Global Times, the Chinese official said that within a short period, the nucleic acid test development, antibody detection reagents and supporting equipment were completed to meet the diagnosis needs in different application scenarios. He added that the country boosted the development of five technical routes in parallel for COVID-19 vaccines. 

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Among the four candidate vaccines, which entered the phase III trial, biopharmaceutical firm CanSino Biologics and a team led by infectious disease expert Chen Wei is an adenoviral vector-based vaccine, while the other three are based on the inactivated virus. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) in June had approved the use of a COVID-19 vaccine that it had developed in association with CanSino Biologics. 

The vaccine was approved for the military even before it could go through Phase III clinical trials. The other three vaccines in China have been developed by the state-owned National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) and private company Sinovac Biotech. 

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China’s vaccines may be ready by November 

Meanwhile, earlier this month, China’s chief biosafety expert Guizhen Wu had said that the country’s COVID vaccines may be ready for the general public’s use by November this year. During an interview with state-run TV on September 14, Wu said that coronavirus vaccines are on Phase 3 of clinical trials and if everything goes well they may be ready by November or December this year.

China has even inoculated its medical workers with one of the four vaccines being tested in the country, as per local media reports. The medical workers were given the vaccine under the emergency use programme launched in July. Wu, during the interview, also said that she has taken the vaccine herself and so far hasn't experienced any adverse effects from it. Wu, who is an official with the China Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), did not specify which vaccine she took. 

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