A Chinese laboratory, known for being the first in the world to sell a vaccine against H1N1 swine fever in 2009, has announced that it will soon begin phase 2 in its search for a vaccine against Covid-19. This will involve 600 volunteers.
- In a laboratory near Beijing, tests have been carried out simultaneously on monkeys and mice to save time and should soon involve humans.
- China has announced that it wants to market vaccines by the end of 2020 or the beginning of 2021.
One of the five laboratories authorized to carry out clinical trials in the search for a vaccine against Covid-19 has opened its doors to journalists from France info to report on the progress of their work. Located in Changping, in the greater suburbs of Beijing, it is currently in phase 2 of the experimental vaccine whose tests involve 600 volunteers.
Phase 3 maybe in Europe
The vaccine the lab researchers are working on is called “Coronavac”. Given the urgency of the situation, they are doing their best to make it available as quickly as possible. “Because of the urgency of the situation, simultaneous tests are being carried out on mice and monkeys. It saves us time but the costs are higher”, testifies Pei Cheng Liu, one of the directors of the laboratory.
The work is progressing quickly since the laboratory will soon begin the second phase of clinical trials which will involve 600 volunteers.“We will soon start the trial on elderly, young people and childrensays Pei Cheng Liu. We are talking about the third phase of the clinical trial with the WHO and foreign countries. We signed confidentiality agreements, I can’t say more. We trade in Asia, Europe and South America. We would like to do the third phase of the clinical trial in Europe.”
A vaccine hoped for in late 2020, early 2021
A few days ago, China announced that it wanted to market a vaccine from the end of 2020 or the beginning of 2021. In Wuhan, where the pandemic started, clinical trials on volunteers have already started. They are supervised by General Chen Wei, on a military base. “Ten minutes after the injection, I had symptoms of diarrhea, says Huang Shiyue, who is one of the volunteers. Chen Wei came to see me. I also had heart rhythm problems. She told me that other volunteers also had these symptoms in the first phase of the clinical trial. She told me: ‘Don’t worry, it’s normal’. Two days later, I had a fever but no worries, it fell the next day. I was tired, I felt sleepy for 14 days. Now it’s over !”, she rejoices.
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