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BEIJING – China’s vaccine diplomacy faces a setback as questions arise about the efficacy and safety of its coronavirus inoculations as the country accelerates a large-scale rollout despite candidates remaining in the trial phase clinical.
Beijing once led the global race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, but American and European pharmaceutical companies are close to bringing candidates to market.
On November 17, the British medical journal The Lancet presented a study on the efficacy of the Sinovac Biotech vaccine candidate based on initial clinical trials. It found that the Chinese company’s candidate generated lower levels of protective antibodies than those present in recovered coronavirus patients. Efficacy was determined to be moderate.
In contrast, candidates from US-based Pfizer and Moderna had an efficiency of over 90%, while Britain’s AstraZeneca’s offering had an overall efficiency rate of 70%. Both American pharmaceutical companies used state-of-the-art technology to develop their products.
Sinovac used an inactivated virus that does not induce disease to develop its candidate, a tried and true method long used to combat pathogens like influenza. Therefore, the moderate success report caused ripples because stronger results were expected.
The Lancet study team confirmed the presence of antibodies and found no safety concerns – enough evidence to continue clinical trials. Sinovac senior director Meng Weining said in an online conference on November 20 that finals trials were progressing smoothly.
“I guess maybe next month we will have data available,” he said.
Eleven vaccine candidates worldwide are in final clinical trials, four of them Chinese. China began vaccine development at a feverish pace in January, mainly through Sinovac and the state-owned giant Sinopharm Group.
Both companies have increased home vaccines, even as they are in the middle of final-stage testing.
People lined up to receive the vaccines on Thursday at a Sinopharm research laboratory in Beijing, a program that has been expanded before the end of clinical trials.
People line up on November 25 in front of a Sinopharm laboratory in Beijing to receive vaccines against the coronavirus. (Photo by Shin Watanabe)
Nearly 1 million people have received vaccinations, the company said on November 18, up from 350,000 in September. Vaccines for people as employees of state-owned companies have nearly tripled in the past two months.
Several of those employees reported being vaccinated in September, but that Sinopharm made no attempt to contact them.
This raises questions about the effort being made to monitor the health of people receiving a vaccine in development. Typically, such contact would occur immediately after inoculation, as well as six months to a year later.
“After about 1 million inoculations, there has not been a single adverse reaction,” Sinopharm Chairman Liu Jingzhen said in a statement on November 18.
The development of vaccines against the coronavirus is being followed intensively around the world. European and American drug companies have been aggressively transparent in the process, disclosing clinical trial data and reporting side effects.
Pfizer applied for emergency approval from the US Food and Drug Administration on November 20, and vaccines are expected to begin on December 11.
Sinopharm on Wednesday asked China’s national drug administration for permission to sell the candidate vaccine, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Details are unknown, but Sinopharm could begin to move from emergency drug administration to general preparation and sale.
Three Chinese companies, Sinovac, Sinopharm and CanSinoBio, are conducting final clinical trials in at least 13 countries, including Indonesia and Brazil. Those countries will be first in line if the candidates are successful.
This priority vaccine supply deal is part of President Xi Jinping’s goal to expand Chinese influence in the developing world. But the rapid development of entirely new vaccines is a risky endeavor, and it remains to be seen whether China can regain the leadership in developing coronavirus vaccines.
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