[ad_1]
BEIJING – Two COVID-19 vaccines from Chinese companies, including Sinopharm, triggered immunity against a highly transmissible variant of the coronavirus first found in South Africa, but its effect appeared weaker, a published small-sample laboratory study showed on Tuesday.
Variants of the virus have raised concerns that they may weaken the effects of vaccines and treatments developed before their appearance.
Twelve serum samples taken each from recipients of two vaccines developed by a subsidiary of the China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) and a Chongqing Zhifei Biologics unit retained neutralizing activity against the South African variant, its researchers said in a paper.
The paper was written by researchers at the Sinopharm-affiliated Beijing Biological Products Institute, the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which is jointly developing a candidate with the Zhifei unit, and two other Chinese agencies.
However, the activity of the samples against the variant was weaker than against the parent virus and another variant that is currently spreading globally, according to the article posted on the BioRxiv website prior to peer review.
The reduction in activity “should be considered for its impact on the clinical efficacy of these vaccines,” they said.
The Sinopharm vaccine is approved in China for general public use and is also used in several other countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The taking of Zhifei is in late c stageclinical trials in China and abroad.
Preliminary data from clinical trials on the Novavax Inc and Johnson & Johnson vaccines also showed that they were significantly less effective at preventing COVID-19 in trial participants in South Africa, where the powerful new variant is widespread. – Reuters
[ad_2]
