China Sinopharms vaccine has 79.34% protection rate against COVID-19, says developer

BEIJING:A vaccine developed by a unit of China National Biotec Group (CNBG) is 79.34% effective at protecting people from COVID-19 and the company has filed an application for regulatory approval in China for its general public use, the developer said on Wednesday.

The vaccine is among the five most advanced candidates from China in terms of development and has been used in the country's emergency use programme that has vaccinated hundreds of thousands of people since July.

The CNBG unit, called Beijing Biological Products Institute, said in a statement that the efficacy rate is based on interim analysis of data from its Phase 3 trials and it had applied to the National Medical Products Administration for conditional approval of the vaccine.

It did not give details such as the number of infections in the trial. A company spokesman said detailed clinical trial results will be released later, without specifying expected timeline.

CNBG, a subsidiary of state-backed China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm), has another vaccine in late-stage trials and both have been approved for emergency use in China even as studies have not been completed.