China's Cansino Rallies on Covid-19 Vaccine Trial Plans

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China's Cansino Rallies on Covid-19 Vaccine Trial Plans

MA XIAOHUA
DATE : MAR 17 2020/SOURCE : YICAI

China's Cansino Rallies on Covid-19 Vaccine Trial Plans

(Yicai Global) March 17 -- Cansino Biologics's stock price climbed after the Chinese pharmaceutical firm said that it is preparing to engage volunteers in its Covid-19 vaccine trials.

Cansino's shares [HK: 6185] rose by 10 percent to HKD86 (USD11.10) this afternoon, the highest in a week.

The firm has started getting ready for clinical trials to test its recombinant adenovirus vector-based Covid-19 vaccine while waiting for regulatory approval, the Tianjin-based company said in a statement today. Cansino joined hands with Co & Institute Of Biotechnology, and China's Academy Of Military Medical Sciences to develop the inoculation.

The company has not released the results of animal tests yet so the effectiveness and the potential side effects of the vaccine are unclear, an industry expert told Yicai Global. Regulators naturally require these kinds of evidence before giving the green light for conducting human trials.

Using adenoviruses to deliver the drug to the target has a high risk of failure and it has also been found to cause immunodeficiency disorders and cancer, a virologist told Yicai Global.

https://yicaiglobal.com/news/china-cansino-rallies-on-covid-19-vaccine-trial-plans

 

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China Draws Closer to Covid-19 Vaccine After Test Mice Produce Specific Antibodies

CHEN JUAN
DATE : MAR 16 2020/SOURCE : YICAI

(Yicai Global) March 16 -- Mice vaccinated with virus-like particles have produced specific antibodies, an important step in the quest for a Covid-19 vaccine, the director of the Shanghai Science and Technology Committee said today.

Shanghai institutions are expected to start clinical tests of an mRNA vaccine by the middle of next month, Zhang Quan said at a press briefing. Scientists have already begun preliminary testing of the biochemical and physiological effects of such drugs in primates.

Messenger RNA vaccines are a new technology that are a promising alternative to conventional vaccines. They use a sequence of mRNA, or the genetic code transcribed from the DNA of a target protein, which when introduced directly into the human body can stimulate the production of antigens and a specific immune response.

China is also researching the use of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine in treating the Covid-19 virus, as part of the nation's emergency research projects dealing with the outbreak, Zhang said. Twenty-one hospitals are participating in clinical trials on 184 patients.

Fosun Pharmaceutical Group was yesterday granted exclusive rights to German drugmaker BioNTech's proprietary mRNA technology platform to develop and commercialize Covid-19 vaccines. Under the deal, Fosun Pharma will pay up to USD85 million in royalties, the Shanghai-based firm said.

https://yicaiglobal.com/news/china-...e-after-test-mice-produce-specific-antibodies