Coronavirus: Chinese pharmaceutical firm says Covid-19 vaccine may be ready this year

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The chairman of SinoPharm said phase three clinical trials of its vaccine candidate began in June. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 9:30pm, 23 Jul 2020Updated: 9:30pm, 23 Jul 2020

A coronavirus vaccine candidate developed by a Chinese pharmaceutical company could be ready for use by the end of this year, state media reported.

Liu Jingzhen, chairman of China National Pharmaceutical Group (SinoPharm), told state broadcaster CCTV on Tuesday that SinoPharm started phase three clinical trials in late June and the product was expected to enter the market by the end of the year.

“Phase three trials should be completed in about three months. In the meantime, they are in the final stages of approval,” he was quoted as saying.

The vaccine candidate was jointly developed by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products and the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products – subsidiaries of the SinoPharm unit, China National Biotec Group (CNBG).

Liu said the two institutes had built P3-level production facilities to ensure they had the capacity for large-scale production if the next phase was successful.

China National Biotec Group said it started a phase three clinical trial in the United Arab Emirates on June 23. The trial is being conducted by CNBG in alliance with the Abu Dhabi Government and Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence company G42 Healthcare.