China kicks off Phase III vaccine clinical trials in Russia

Phase III clinical trials on a COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical firm CanSino Biologics Inc and a team led by Chinese military expert Chen Wei has kicked off in Russia, the company announced.

The clinical trials in Russia are conducted with a local company named NPO Petrovax Pharm, which is one of the five major immunobiological producers in Russia, according to a statement CanSino sent to the Global Times.

CanSino and Petrovax have received approval from the Russian health department and launched the trials to further verify the efficacy of the vaccine (Ad5-nCoV), which is part of CanSino's international clinical trial project, according to the statement.

Vaccination of the volunteers participating in the trial in Russia is scheduled to be finished by the end of September and the results will be released by late autumn, Petrovax previously told the Global Times.

CanSino launched clinical trials on the vaccine in March in Wuhan and released results on Phase I and II trials in June, which proved the vaccine is safe and can provide immunity with only one injection.

The vaccine also shows good stability and can be stored well in temperatures between 2-8 C, which means it's good for transportation, according to the company.

Based on the positive results, the vaccine was approved as a special drug for the Chinese military in June and was issued a patent by the national authorities on August 11, becoming the first patented COVID-19 vaccine candidate in China.

CanSino's international clinical trial project in total would include about 40,000 adult volunteers, the company said.

Countries like Pakistan, Mexico and Saudi Arabia have announced that they were in negotiations with CanSino over cooperation on clinical trials.