RIO DE JANEIRO, July 29 (Reuters) – Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinopharm and the state of Paraná have agreed to launch the fourth major trial of the COVID-19 vaccine in Brazil and will seek regulatory approval in the next two weeks, partners said on Wednesday. Brazilians.
A Sinopharm test would join Phase III tests already announced in Brazil by AstraZeneca, Sinovac Biotech and a Pfizer partnership with BioNTech.
Jorge Callado, head of the Paraná Institute of Technology (Tecpar), said that they will soon finalize their proposal and submit it to the approval of the federal health regulator, Anvisa.
Brazil’s COVID-19 outbreak, the world’s worst outside the United States, has made it a global testing ground for potential vaccines.
Sinopharm’s candidate vaccine is already being tested in the United Arab Emirates with 15,000 volunteers.
Paraná is also in talks with Russian researchers about the production of its potential vaccine, the state government said in a statement, adding that Governor Ratinho Júnior would soon meet with the Russian ambassador to Brazil.
The Russians have also contacted the Butantan Institute in Sao Paulo to discuss the possibility of testing their vaccine, the institute’s director told reporters on Wednesday. (Report by Pedro Fonseca Writing by Marcelo Rochabrun Editing by Brad Haynes and David Gregorio)
