What’s new: China’s drug authority Thursday approved two more Covid-19 vaccines for public use, bringing the total to four.
The newly approved shots include a viral vector vaccine developed by CanSino Biologics Inc. and an inactivated-virus vaccine developed by Sinopharm's affiliate Wuhan Institute of Biological Product.
Both companies filed applications Feb. 21. China’s National Medical Products Administration granted conditional authorization for public use of the shots, meaning research is still going on and new information should be submitted to the regulator as it becomes available.
The background: The approvals bring the total number of Covid-19 vaccines available in China to four. The drug authority in late December approved the country’s first shot, developed by another Sinopharm affiliate in Beijing. In early February, a Covid-19 vaccine developed by local company Sinovac Biotech Ltd. also received conditional marketing approval.
CanSino confirmed its application Wednesday while reporting updated data indicating its single-dose vaccine showed an overall efficacy of 65.28% at preventing all symptomatic Covid-19 28 days after inoculation. The shot developed by Sinopharm’s Wuhan institution reported an efficacy rate of 72.51% in the final stage of clinical trials.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com).
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