China’s top vaccine producer, China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm), said on Wednesday that it has asked the country’s regulators to market its Covid-19 vaccine.
The announcement was made by Sinopharm CEO Shi Shengyi, state media reported.
The company, which is conducting clinical trials of the candidate vaccine abroad, said it had collected data from host countries such as the United Arab Emirates.
The results are expected to be good, but it is up to the Chinese authorities to make the decision, as the authorities have strict review standards, the company said.
Previously, the company said that it had submitted clinical data for phase 3 of the vaccine to the China State Food and Drug Administration and was in the process of providing more detailed data.
The company said it is in the final stages before releasing it to the markets and is now making approval of the vaccine its top priority.
If approved, Sinopharm will likely become the first vaccine developer outside of Russia to make its vaccines available to the general public, underscoring China’s push to be a major player in supplying vaccines to countries across the world. the world.
Western drug makers such as Pfizer Inc. are only in the stage of requesting authorization for the emergency use of their injections, a status that China granted its developers in July.
Five Chinese vaccine candidates are in clinical trials in countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Pakistan and Peru, and phase I and II clinical trials of other candidates have been accelerated, said the spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. , Zhao Lijian, last week in a regular briefing.
At least one million people have taken an experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by Sinopharm through the country’s emergency use program, the firm said last week.
China launched the emergency use program in July, which so far includes three candidate vaccines for essential workers and other limited groups of people.
Experts have questioned the measure, as clinical studies to prove its safety and efficacy have yet to be completed.
Earlier this week, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China stands ready to step up global cooperation on the Covid-19 vaccine, calling for better international policy coordination to facilitate the movement of people.
“China is willing to strengthen cooperation with other countries in vaccine research and development, production and distribution,” Xi told the G-20 Summit in Riyadh via video link on Saturday.
“We will honor our commitments, offer help and support to other developing countries, and work hard to make vaccines a public good that citizens of all countries can use and pay for.”
Xi urged greater coordination of international policies to establish “fast lanes” of travel, facilitating orderly global movement.
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