Ground zero of the COVID-19 pandemic, China has officially granted the first invention patent to a candidate of its domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine.
“#China has approved its first #COVID19 #vaccine patent, which has been developed by PLA infectious disease expert Chen Wei’s team. Earlier, the phase 2 trial of the vaccine candidate found that the vaccine is safe and induces an immune response.”
– State-affiliated media China Global Television Network (CGTN) said in a tweet
Named as ‘Ad5-nCoV’, the vaccine is co-developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical firm CanSino Biologics Inc., which is led by Chinese military infectious disease expert Chen Wei.
The research involved 320 “healthy volunteers” aged between 18 and 59. 96 individuals participated in Phase-1 clinical trials, while 224 of which in Phase-2 trials. China said the results indicated that the vaccine “effectively induced neutralizing antibodies in the volunteers and demonstrated good ability of a substance to trigger an immune response.”
According to the vaccine developer, the grant of the patent further confirmed the vaccine’s “efficacy and safety and convincingly demonstrated the ownership of its intellectual property rights (IPR).”
It also said the patent will strengthen the international market’s trust in Chinese-developed COVID-19 vaccines. The paper cited documents published by China’s National Intellectual Property Administration saying that the patent was issued on August 11, 2020.
Global race for a COVID-19 vaccine
Last week, President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia has developed the first vaccine offering “sustainable immunity” against the coronavirus. The first batch of the vaccine is said to be ready for use in two weeks, according to local media reports last week that quoted Health Minister Mikhail Murashko.
Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his Independence Day speech on Saturday that India is now ready to mass-produce its own COVID-19 vaccines after Indian scientists gave the green signal. According to Modi, three coronavirus vaccines are being tested in India.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which originated in Wuhan, China in December 2019, has already affected more than 180 countries globally and claimed at least 700,000 lives. The US, Brazil, India, and Russia are currently the worst-hit countries.
Sources: Philippine News Agency | USA News | Anadolu Agency English News
