The Chinese National Biotechnology Group (CNBG) and the Sinovac Biotechnology Company said today, Saturday, that four other countries have agreed to conduct clinical trials, in an advanced stage, on their volunteers to test potential vaccines against the Corona virus, as China intensifies Its efforts in the global race to find a vaccine to prevent the disease.
Serbia and Pakistan joined the new countries that agreed to conduct the third-phase trials, as the two companies seek more data from abroad in light of the decline in new cases of infection in China.
The Chinese National Group told Reuters that Serbia will test two vaccines developed by the company’s units in Wuhan and Beijing, while Pakistan will test the Beijing unit vaccine.
The group’s vice president, Zhang Yuntao, expected 50,000 people to participate in the third-phase experiments conducted by the company in about ten countries.
He added that foreign countries have expressed their desire to order a total of 500 million doses of their vaccines. He added that the company is expected to be able to produce 300 million doses annually once manufacturing technologies are modernized, and he said that it is working on a plan to raise the annual production capacity to one billion doses.
Helen Yang, director of global strategy and business development at Sinovac, said the company’s upcoming vaccine, Coronavac, is being tested in Brazil and Indonesia and has also received approval from two other countries for phase III trials.
She declined to disclose the two countries, saying the information is still classified.
Although the last-phase trials, which aim to prove that the vaccine is safe and effective, are still ongoing, China has already authorized the use of candidate vaccines from the two companies in emergency situations for groups of high risk such as medical teams.
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