Pfizer endorses CanSino’s meningitis vaccine, giving Chinese biotech company a shot in the arm
- US global pharmaceutical giant Pfizer will promote Hong Kong-listed CanSino Biologics’ Menhycia meningitis vaccine candidate in the mainland
- China National Medical Products Administration put the vaccine on the fast track list in December, but has yet to approve it
The Hong Kong-listed company, due to float shares on the mainland’s Nasdaq-style Star Market to fund the expansion of its production capacity, signed an agreement with the US global pharmaceutical giant on Saturday, under which Pfizer will broadly promote Menhycia, CanSino’s meningitis vaccine candidate in China. No other details were revealed.
The vaccine offers protection against the severe infectious disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis bacteria, which mostly affects children between the ages of six months to five years old. Vaccination is considered to be an effective and affordable measure to prevent the disease, but CanSino’s candidate is yet to be approved by the China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA).
“The agreement paves a way for a deepened tie-up with [Pfizer] and strengthens our commercial capabilities,” said Yu Xuefeng, co-founder and chairman of CanSino. “It also lays a solid foundation for CanSino to consolidate a foothold in China while going international.”
The endorsement, the first for a mainland vaccine developer, is significant after the country was hit by a scandal that triggered a crisis of confidence in the domestic vaccine industry, said pharmaceutical executives, who did not want to be named.