China Sinopharm Applies to Authorities for COVID-19 Vaccine Launch

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine developed by China's Sinovac arrived by air on the 19th (local time) and is being unloaded at Guarulhos International Airport in S?o Paulo, Brazil. The S?o Paulo state government in Brazil received the first batch of 120,000 doses of the Chinese vaccine.
[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] The launch of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine developed by Sinopharm, a Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical company (China National Pharmaceutical Group), has entered the final countdown stage.

On the 25th, Xinhua News Agency reported that Sinopharm has applied to the China National Medical Products Administration for the approval of its COVID-19 vaccine. Liu Jingzhen, Party Secretary and Chairman of Sinopharm, recently stated in an interview that nearly one million people have already received emergency vaccinations with their COVID-19 vaccine, and no serious side effects have been reported among them.

Two types of COVID-19 vaccines developed by Sinopharm’s subsidiary China National Biotec Group (CNBG) are currently undergoing Phase 3 clinical trials involving about 60,000 participants across more than 10 countries overseas. These vaccines work by inducing an immune response using inactivated viruses that cannot replicate within human cells.

However, the COVID-19 vaccines developed by Sinopharm and other Chinese companies have yet to have their safety and efficacy fully verified through clinical testing. Currently, clinical trials for these vaccines are being conducted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Brazil, Pakistan, Peru, and other countries.

Following the news of Sinopharm’s vaccine approval application, the stocks of several listed companies under Sinopharm surged sharply. Sinopharm’s current COVID-19 vaccine production capacity is about 100 million doses annually, but it is expected to increase to around 1 billion doses next year.