An experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by a Beijing-based unit of China National Biotec Group (CNBG) has shown positive results in human trials. The company said on Sunday that early results from the tests suggested that the experimental COVID-19 vaccine could be safe and effective against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

According to CNBG, which is affiliated to the state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm), this was the second vaccine candidate from the firm to produce promising results in a clinical trial. In a posting on the social media platform WeChat, CNBG said that preliminary data of the trial involving1,120 healthy people showed that the experimental vaccine induced high-level antibodies in all the inoculated participants in a Phase 1/2 clinical study.

The Beijing-based institute said in a statement that all volunteers produced high-titer antibodies against the novel coronavirus after receiving two doses of the vaccine, reported Global Times. Reports suggest that China, which is making a major front-runner in the race to find a COVID-19 jab, is developing coronavirus vaccines in five categories - inactivated vaccines, recombinant protein vaccines, live attenuated influenza vaccines, adenovirus vaccines and nucleic acid-based vaccines.

Chinese researchers and firms have been allowed to test eight vaccine candidates in humans at home and abroad.

On June 23, CNBG announced that it will conduct a Phase 3 trial for its vaccine candidate in the United Arab Emirates, although the firm did not reveal which shot will be tested. A vaccine has to prove its effectiveness in ‘Phase 3’ human trial involving thousands of participants to be cleared for widespread use.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), globally at least 16 COVID-19 vaccine candidates are currently in clinical trials even as researchers race against time to develop a safe vaccine against the dreaded virus, which has so far killed at least 499,510 people in the world.

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