Tianjin CanSino Biologics (HK: 6185; SHA: 688185) has filed for conditional China approval of its COVID-19 vaccine. In an interim analysis of a global Phase III trial, the vaccine was 65% effective at preventing all symptomatic COVID-19 disease and 90% effective at preventing severe disease. CanSino, which partnered the vaccine with the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, tested it in 40,000 volunteers in five foreign countries. The Ad5-nCoV vaccine is delivered by an adenovirus Type 5 vector.

Both figures represent efficacy 28 days after a single dose of the vaccine, which were slightly lower than the 14-day efficacy. The trial was conducted in Pakistan, Mexico, Russia, Chile and Argentina.

CanSino filed for the conditional approval on February 21. If the CanSino vaccine is approved, it would be the fourth COVID-19 vaccine to be launched in China, all of them from China companies.

Since mid-2020, CanSino and its Sinopharm partner have been delivering the vaccine for use in China citizens who are at high risk for developing COVID-19. They originally partnered on a vaccine for Ebola, which they used as a basis for developing the COVID-19 product.

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Disclosure: ChinaBio has a relationship to CanSino.