A vial labeled “Sinopharm COVID-19 Vaccine” is seen in this January 16, 2022 photo illustration. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
BEIJING, April 16 – COVID-19 vaccine candidates developed by a subsidiary of Sinopharm and Sinovac Biotech (SVA.O) to target the Omicron variant have been approved for clinical trials in Hong Kong, the authorities said Company on Saturday with.
Scientists around the world are scrambling to study improved injections against Omicron, as data suggests antibodies elicited by older-strain-based vaccines show weaker activity to neutralize the highly transmissible variant.
The two candidates, from units of Sinopharm subsidiary China National Biotec Group (CNBG) and one from Sinovac, contain inactivated or “killed” coronavirus and are similar to vaccines the companies supply in China and overseas, the companies said in statements.
The Sinopharm candidates will be tested as a booster dose in adults who have already received two or three doses of the vaccine, CNBG said. It did not specify what vaccine products study participants would have received prior to taking the experimental booster dose or how many subjects would be recruited.
Sinovac said it will advance studies to protect its existing CoronaVac vaccine from new variants.
A Chinese study showed that a fourth dose of BBIBP-CorV, an existing Sinopharm COVID vaccine, did not significantly increase antibody levels to Omicron when given six months after a third booster dose of a regular two-dose regimen.
While the fourth dose restored antibody levels to around the peak levels seen after the third dose, the researchers said new vaccines would offer a better alternative than future boosters.
Reporting by Roxanne Liu and Andrew Galbraith; Edited by Edmund Klamann and William Mallard