Chinese Firm Sinovac Biotech Says It Is 99% Sure that Its COVID-19 Vaccine Will Work

Sinovac Biotech Ltd. (Beijing, China), a biopharmaceutical company, has stated that the company is 99% sure that its COVID-19 vaccine, called CoronaVac, will work.

Sinovac has received approval from government authorities to conduct both Phase I and Phase II human clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine in China. The company has made significant process in the development of CoronaVac. The Phase I clinical trial, which evaluated the safety, tolerance, and preliminary immunogenicity of the COVID-19 vaccine, commenced in April. The company recently published preclinical results regarding CoronaVac, noting that the vaccine candidate was safe and provided protection to rhesus macaques (monkeys) through an animal challenge study.

After preliminary observation of the safety profile of CoronaVac in the Phase I study, Sinovac began conducting Phase II trial of its coronavirus vaccine in May that involved more than 1,000 volunteers. The Phase II clinical trial will evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of CoronaVac in a larger population in order to define dosage, regimen and immunization schedule. The company is now in preliminary discussions to hold the Phase III trial of its coronavirus vaccine, with the final part of the process planned to be conducted in the UK.

Sinovac has secured USD 15 million in funding to accelerate its COVID-19 vaccine development and is constructing a commercial vaccine production plant that is expected to manufacture up to 100 million doses of CoronaVac annually. According to a report by Sky News, when Luo Baishan, a researcher at Sinovac, was asked by their reporter whether he thought the vaccine would be successful, he said, "Yes, yes. It must be successful… 99% (sure)."

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