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Coronavirus vaccine
ChinaScience

Coronavirus: is China ready for the mRNA vaccine revolution?

  • The focus at home has been on the well-established path of inactivated formulas to fight Covid-19
  • But some companies are heeding the call to investigate the potential of a whole new kind of technology

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Moderna is a pioneer in mRNA technology, which Chinese firms have been uged to consider. Photo: Reuters
Zhuang Pinghui
When the quest for a coronavirus vaccine began, China invested big in what it saw as the safest bet – inactivated vaccines.
State-owned Sinopharm and private company Sinovac worked with government-affiliated labs to work around the clock to design inactivated viruses while construction started on biosecure facilities to meet anticipated demand.

But then came the results from developers of an alternative technology called mRNA.

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The stellar efficacy data from clinical trials by mRNA vaccine pioneers Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna sent shock waves through the industry, prompting a reassessment of the approach.

A top Chinese health official has since urged companies to look again at the new technology while other domestic players are already making the pivot to embrace what they say is a new vaccine era.

In November, soon after Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna announced an interim efficacy rate of more than 90 per cent for their candidates, the head of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention told the country’s vaccine executives that mRNA technology could revolutionise the industry and they should be ready.

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