During the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing this weekend, China National Biotec Group (CNBG) and Sinovac Biotech presented their candidate COVID-19 inactivated virus vaccines at the opening ceremony.
Sinavac has reportedly kicked off phase III clinical trials in Brazil and Indonesia and obtained approvals from two more countries for the phase III trials. The company is hoping the vaccine will be licensed for use by the year’s end. Sinovac’s designed production capacity for the vaccine is 300 million doses annually.
CNBG is a subsidiary of Sinopharm. International clinical trials of the company have reportedly involved over 50,000 volunteers from 115 countries. CNBG is upgrading its production capacity of COVID-19 vaccines from 200 to 300 million doses per year and has plans to to raise its annual capacity to 1 billion doses, Reuters reported.
Liu Jingzhen, chairman of Sinopharm, has told media that he hopes their vaccine will be out by the end of December at a price of less than 1,000 yuan ($144) for two doses necessary for 100% inactivation.
Global Times, Sept. 7, 2020