Volunteers needed for second phase of China coronavirus vaccine trial
- Tianjin-based CanSino Biologics is recruiting 500 people for the second stage of the country’s main prospect for a preventive injection for Covid-19
- This time participants will be able to remain at home rather than have to stay in one facility for two weeks
The Tianjin-based company announced on Thursday night that it and the Institute of Biotechnology at the Academy of Military Medical Sciences would begin the second phase of the trial after preliminary data from the first stage indicated that it was safe to proceed.
The pharmaceutical industry and public health bodies are in an urgent quest to develop a vaccine for the highly contagious new coronavirus that has already infected 1.5 million people around the world, killing at least 90,000.
Vaccines usually take years to develop but a number of trials are already up and running.
In the first stage of the CanSino Biologics trial, 108 volunteers from Wuhan, Hubei province, where the coronavirus was first reported in late December, were injected with the vaccine candidate from mid-March to April 2. They were divided into three groups, receiving either a low, medium or high dose of the vaccine to test its effectiveness and safety.