Tianjin CanSino Biologics (HK: 6185; SHA: 688185) reported its COVID-19 vaccine was approved for emergency use in Pakistan. Previously, the vaccine, which is delivered by an adeno-associated virus serotype 5 (AAV5) vector, was approved in Mexico. In an interim report from a multi-nation clinical trial, the vaccine achieved 65.7% efficacy in preventing symptomatic coronavirus cases and a 91% success rate in stopping severe infections. Pakistan will receive “in the range of tens of millions” of doses, while Mexico is slated to receive 8 million doses.

According to Reuters, Faisal Sultan, Pakistan's Health Minister, said the CanSino vaccine is the fourth candidate authorized in Pakistan, a country with a population of 220 million.

For COVID-19 relief, Pakistan is largely reliant on the GAVI/WHO COVAX initiative for poorer nations. It has also allowed private companies to import coronavirus vaccines and has agreed to exempt these vaccines from price caps.

China’s Sinopharm, AstraZeneca and Russia’s Sputnik V have also been authorized to market their vaccines in Pakistan. In the Pakistani cohort of the global CanSino trial, the results were slightly better than the average for the global trial: its efficacy for preventing symptomatic cases was 74.8% and 100% for preventing severe disease.

Pakistan has diagnosed over 550,000 cases of COVID-19 and recorded more than 12,000 deaths, but it has not received any of the 17 million doses it expected to get via the global COVAX initiative.

Previously, the country began to vaccinate frontline healthcare workers using 500,000 doses of Sinopharm's vaccine, which was donated by China.

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Disclosure: ChinaBio has a relationship with CanSino.