Third stage of the clinical trial of China’s COVID-19 vaccine may be conducted in Uzbekistan

Representatives of the Ministry of Innovative Development of Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Health conducted negotiations with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the International Alliance of Scientific Organizations, as well as the Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical Company through the videoconference, the Ministry’s press service reports.

During the negotiations, the parties discussed the issues of cooperation on introducing a vaccine against the COVID-19, developed by the Chinese company Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd jointly with the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

“The vaccine is a recombinant protein of the superficial coronavirus antigen, and it has now completed the second phase of clinical trials in China, making it the fastest-developing candidate recombinant vaccine of COVID-19 in the world. It was reported that the vaccine was developed in strict compliance with the requirements of the State Pharmacopoeia of China and has a high level of safety. New technology for obtaining a vaccine was published on August 6, 2020, in the prestigious journal Cell by a group of Chinese scientists,” the report states.

The Chinese vaccine was approved for clinical tests by the National Medical Products Administration of China (NMPA) on June 20 and is the third vaccine against coronavirus infection in the world.

“The first and second phases of the vaccine trials on people have been successfully completed, and the completion of the second phase is expected in October. The third stage of clinical trials of the new vaccine is planned for the fourth quarter of 2020,” the report continues.

The Chinese side said that a third phase of clinical trials was planned to be conducted simultaneously in a number of countries and expressed interest in conducting them among volunteers in Uzbekistan.

They also mentioned the possibility of a third phase of vaccine testing in Uzbekistan, the Far East and the Arab countries. If tests are successful, it may be used in Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries.

As a result of the negotiations, it was agreed that Uzbekistan would consider the possibility of conducting tests in the Virology Research Institute under the Ministry of Health and in the Center of Advanced Technologies under the Ministry of Innovative Development.

“The Chinese side expressed its readiness to provide both methodological and financial assistance for the third phase tests. The Uzbek side stated that it would consider the proposal of Chinese colleagues and announce the final decision,” the Ministry reported.