BEIJING (AP) A Chinese drugmaker said Wednesday its coronavirus vaccine was found to be 79.3% effective at preventing infection in preliminary data from the final round of testing, moving Beijing closer to possibly being able to fulfill its pledge to supply other developing countries.
The announcement by a unit of state-owned Sinopharm gave the first official data from a Chinese vaccine s late-stage trial. Its reported effectiveness rate is behind Pfizer Inc. s vaccine at 95% and Moderna Inc. s at 94%. Scientists have cautioned coronavirus vaccines may only be about as effective as flu vaccines, which generally are 50% effective.
Sinopharm is one of at least five Chinese developers that are in a global race to create vaccines for the disease that has killed more than 1.7 million people. More than 1 million health care workers and others in China have received vaccines being developed by Sinopharm and another supplier, Sinovac, under emergency approval while testing was underway.
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A Sinopharm sign is seen at the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, China, September 5, 2020. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo China s Sinopharm says its COVID-19 vaccine has 79.34% protection rate
Published December 30, 2020 1:14pm
Updated December 30, 2020 1:39pm BEIJING - A COVID-19 vaccine developed by a Beijing firm linked to Sinopharm has a protection rate of 79.34% against the disease, the firm said in a statement on Wednesday. Beijing Biological Products Institute Co. Ltd said it had applied to the National Medical Products Administration for conditional approval of the vaccine. The result is based on interim analysis of data from its Phase III clinical trial, but the firm did not give details such as the number of infections in the trial.
Chinese drugmaker: Vaccine 79.3% effective in final tests
by The Associated Press
Last Updated Dec 30, 2020 at 1:44 am EDT
BEIJING A Chinese drugmaker said Wednesday its coronavirus vaccine was found to be 79.3% effective at preventing infection in preliminary data from the final round of testing, moving Beijing closer to possibly being able to fulfil its pledge to supply other developing countries.
State-owned Sinopharm is one of at least four Chinese developers that are part of a global race to create vaccines for the disease that has killed 1.8 million people. More than 1 million health care workers and others in China have received Chinese-developed vaccines under emergency approval while testing was under way.
2020/12/30 14:35 BEIJING (AP) A Chinese drugmaker said Wednesday its coronavirus vaccine was found to be 79.3% effective at preventing infection in preliminary data from the final round of testing, moving Beijing closer to possibly being able to fulfill its pledge to supply other developing countries. State-owned Sinopharm is one of at least four Chinese developers that are part of a global race to create vaccines for the disease that has killed 1.8 million people. More than 1 million health care workers and others in China have received Chinese-developed vaccines under emergency approval while testing was under way. Sinopharm, or China National Pharmaceutical Group, has applied for approval of its vaccine following the third and final stage of testing, a unit of the company, Beijing Biological Products Institute Ltd., said on its website.
Updated Dec. 30, 2020 7:17 am ET
A Chinese vaccine candidate was found to be 79% effective in protecting against Covid-19 in interim Phase 3 results and was seeking conditional approval from Chinese regulators, a unit of the shot’s state-owned maker said.
Wednesday’s rate was lower than the interim result on the same vaccine released earlier this month by the United Arab Emirates, where vaccine maker Sinopharm is conducting the majority of its final-stage trials. The two-dose shot is approved for emergency use in China and the U.A.E., as well as in Bahrain. China’s go-ahead for conditional use would mean it was approved for mass use but that the drugmaker would still have to submit final data.