Sinovac’s Chinese COVID-19 Vaccine Enters Last Phase III Clinical Trial

China's Sinovac Biotech will soon start Phase III clinical trials for its COVID-19 vaccine in Brazil, the company said in a statement on Monday, July 6.

The announcement makes Sinovac one of the three pharmaceutical companies that have entered large Phase III clinical trials in the race to develop an effective solution to the coronavirus pandemic.

Apart from Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine, coronavirus vaccines developed by the China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) and AstraZeneca in association with scientists at the University of Oxford, are the other two to have entered last large-scale Phase III clinical trials.

The Brazilian authorities gave fast-track approval for the testing for the Chinese coronavirus vaccine.

Sinovac is also working on its coronavirus vaccine plant, whose establishment is expected to complete by the end of 2020. It is expected that the plant will have the capacity to manufacture and produce about 100 million shots of coronavirus vaccine in one year.

Globally, more than 140 vaccines are being developed by pharmaceutical companies, out of which about 11 have received permission to be tested in humans.

The Phase III clinical trial, which will be done in collaboration with the Brazilian vaccine producer the Instituto Butantan, will include about 9,000 healthcare professionals as volunteers. All of the professionals considered are working in facilities dealing with COVID-19 patients. The trial is expected to begin soon in July.

Moderna’s mRNA coronavirus vaccine is also expected to enter the last phase of the trial this month. Phase III trials focus on the efficacy of the experimental coronavirus vaccines, while Phase I and Phase II have a more focus on safety.

So far, none of the COVID-19 vaccines have received an approval for human use.

COVID-19 pandemic has so far killed more than 5,40,000 people across the world. Currently, more than 11,740,000 cases have been confirmed worldwide.

Meanwhile, White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said in a statement on Monday that protection provided by the coronavirus vaccine could be short-lived and people may require a booster shot for prolonged protection.