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Sinovac bets big on flu vaccine

By Ding Qingfen and Wang Qian (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-19 08:04

Vaccine manufacturer Beijing Sinovac Biotech said yesterday that it has become the first company in the world to successfully complete the preliminary clinical trials for the A/H1N1 influenza vaccine.

The result comes a month after the company said it and Henan-based Hualan Biological Engineering were given permission by the authorities to start clinical trials of the influenza vaccine.

The company's preliminary result is based on the first injection of the vaccine among 1,614 volunteers in China, which ended on Saturday.

Unnamed industrial sources, however, feel that the company should not jump into any conclusions until the entire trials process is completed.

The final result of the clinical trials is expected in mid-September with two more injections of the vaccine to be completed by then.

Related readings:  Second phase of trial vaccine testing begins  160M doses of swine flu vaccine due in Oct  Australia starts H1N1 flu vaccine trials  China starts batch production of A(H1N1) vaccine

Hualan Biological Engineering has not made any announcement about its clinical trials till now, and the company was not reachable for comments yesterday.

Huang Jianshi, senior professor from Peking Union Medical College Hospital, was quoted as saying by Caijing magazine that Sinovac Biotech's conclusion can only tell the vaccine it developed was safe for a small set of people, but cannot convincingly prove that it is 100 percent safe for all.

"We plan to complete the final report as soon as possible and fully evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the H1N1 vaccine," said Sinovac chairman Yin Weidong.

Ten Chinese vaccine producers have been given permission by the government to develop the H1N1 influenza vaccines in the country.