CanSino Biologics said yesterday its potential COVID-19 vaccine using messenger RNA technology has been approved by China’s medical products regulator to enter clinical trials.
Unlike other major countries, China is yet to approve any foreign-made mRNA vaccines such as that produced by American-German duo Pfizer and BioNTech.
With around 88 per cent of its 1.4 billion population already vaccinated, China is trialling several domestically developed mRNA vaccine candidates, including one that is being tested in a large, phase-III clinical trial.
CanSinoBIO said in a press release that studies before clinical trials showed that the candidate can elicit high-level neutralising antibodies against multiple variants, including Omicron.
Separately, CSPC Pharmaceutical Group said earlier that its potential mRNA COVID-19 vaccine SYS6006 was cleared by China’s National Medical Products Administration to conduct clinical trials.