The first messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccine developed by Chinese drugmaker CanSino Biologics has entered trial production, with a designed production capacity of 100 million doses. It will be one of the first vaccines developed in China using mRNA technology.
CanSino issued an announcement on the evening of the 5th of this month, disclosing the latest progress of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine CS-2034 jointly developed by CanSino and its subsidiaries. According to the announcement, the first-phase production project of the mRNA vaccine CS-2034 developed for the Omicron strain has a design production capacity of 100 million doses.
According to the announcement, CS-2034 has achieved positive phase data in a clinical study evaluating the safety and immunogenicity of sequential boosting.
The clinical study was launched last October. The results of the study showed that a booster dose of CS-2034 in the population who had previously received three doses of inactivated vaccine was safe, and the overall adverse reactions were mainly mild, and the incidence and severity of adverse reactions were significantly lower than those reported in the literature. mRNA vaccines have been marketed, and the safety of the elderly subgroup is better than that of the adult subgroup.
In terms of immunogenicity, the test results of neutralizing antibodies against true viruses showed that 28 days after CS-2034 was strengthened, the neutralizing antibodies against the prototype strain and the Omicron BA. and 23 times.
CanSino said that as of now, CS-2034 is still in the clinical phase IIb phase, and the current progress is in line with expectations. At the same time, the “3+1” sequential enhanced clinical research of this vaccine is also underway. In terms of production capacity construction, the first-phase project of the production base in Lingang, Shanghai, has a designed production capacity of 100 million doses. At present, the verification has begun and it has entered the trial production stage.
Three years into the outbreak, China has largely relied on domestically produced vaccines using inactivated technology, but these have not been enough to stop the spread of the coronavirus. In September last year, China approved CanSino’s inhaled vaccine for use as a booster shot, the first inhaled COVID-19 vaccine launched globally. In November of that year, China agreed to approve Pfizer’s mRNA vaccine for domestic use, but only to some foreign residents.
At present, after significantly relaxing domestic epidemic control measures, China is facing the largest wave of infections since the outbreak.
China is in active talks with Pfizer Inc over a license to manufacture and distribute a generic version of an oral coronavirus drug, three sources told Reuters. Beijing wants to finalize the terms of the license by Jan. 22. January 22 is the first day of the first month of the Chinese New Year.