Sinovac Biotech of Beijing reported its COVID-19 vaccine produced a seroconversion rate of above 90% in a China Phase I/II trial. The trial enrolled 743 healthy volunteers, 143 in Phase I and 600 in Phase II. There were no severe adverse events reported in either trial. CoronaVac is made by chemically inactivating the virus, the traditional method for vaccine development, while most western COVID-19 vaccines are based on either DNA or RNA platforms. Sinovac intends to conduct a Phase III trial in partnership with Brazil's Instituto Butantan.

Because Brazil is undergoing a COVID-19 outbreak, conducting the Phase III trial there will speed up the process.

Sinovac will submit a Phase II clinical trial report and a Phase III clinical study protocol to China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) soon and then begin the trial in Brazil. The company will publish a full data report on the completed Phase I/II trials in a scientific journal.

China’s NMPA approved the Phase I/II trial on April 13 after beginning work on the vaccine in January. The process is taking place at unprecedented speed to get a vaccine available for global markets as soon as possible. Sinovac said it has also started construction of an additional manufacturing site.

Mr. Weidong Yin, Chairman, President and CEO of Sinovac, said, “Our Phase I/II study shows CoronaVac is safe and can induce an immune response. Concluding our Phase I/II clinical studies with these encouraging results is another significant milestone we have achieved in the fight against COVID-19.”

Sinovac's product portfolio includes vaccines against:

• enterovirus71 (EV71),
• hepatitis A and B, s
• seasonal influenza,
• H5N1 pandemic influenza (avian flu),
• H1N1 influenza (swine flu),
• varicella vaccine and
• mumps.

The company is developing a number of new products including

• a Sabin-strain inactivated polio vaccine,
• pneumococcal polysaccharides vaccine,
• a quadrivalent influenza vaccine and
• a SARS-CoV-2 (commonly referred to as COVID-19) vaccine.

See our other articles on Sinovac.

Disclosure: none.