Coronavirus: China sends 2 experimental COVID-19 vaccines for clinical trials

Four vaccines now at clinical trial stage in race to beat deadly virus

Last updated: April 14, 2020 | 06:20

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A researcher works on virus replication in order to development a vaccine against the coronavirus Covid-19, in Belo Horizonte, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, on March 26, 2020. The World Health Organisation says it’s important to know whether the BCG vaccine can reduce disease in those infected with the coronavirus.

AFP

Beijing: China has approved early-stage human tests for two experimental vaccines to combat the new coronavirus that killed over 100,000 people worldwide, state media Xinhua reported on Tuesday.

The vaccines are being developed by a Beijing-based unit of Nasdaq-listed Sinovac Biotech, and by the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, an affiliate of state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group.

In March, China have the green-light for another clinical trial for a coronavirus vaccine candidate developed by military-backed China’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences and HK-listed biotech firm CanSino Bio, shortly after US drug developer Moderna said it had begun human tests for their vaccine with the US National Institutes of Health.