University of Hong Kong, Sinopharm launch city’s first trial for Omicron-targeting vaccine which could be ready in November
- Some 500 Hongkongers have been recruited for clinical trial, out of which 100 have already received the new jabs
- Lead researcher Professor Ivan Hung says new vaccine could achieve a 60 to 70 per cent overall protection rate
Chinese drug maker Sinopharm and the University of Hong Kong (HKU) have launched the city’s first clinical trial for an Omicron-targeting vaccine, which could be ready for the public by November.
The research teams revealed in a joint press conference on Tuesday that out of 500 Hongkongers recruited for the trial, 100 had already received the vaccine, but also urged more residents to sign up.
“The Omicron variant has been shown to have a vaccine escape ability, which can undermine the efficacy and protection of the currently available vaccines, since the induced antibodies wane over time,’ said Professor Ivan Hung Fan-ngai, chief of HKU’s infectious diseases division and the project’s lead researcher. “That is why we urgently need an Omicron-targeting vaccine.”
Sinopharm said it started developing the jabs after receiving the Omicron virus genome isolated by HKU from an infected traveller from South Africa in November last year, adding the city’s health department approved the trial on April 14.
Researchers aim to wrap up the recruitment process for the study, which will involve 1,800 healthy adult volunteers, by July and complete vaccination by August, while data analysis will be ready by October. The timeline will allow Sinopharm to apply for registration and emergency use of the jabs by November, potentially becoming the first Omicron-specific vaccine available to the public in the city.
The trial will comprise 900 participants who have received two or three doses of a Covid-19 inactivated vaccine, and the same number who have taken two or three shots of an mRNA vaccine, according to researchers.