China’s Sinopharm to Develop its First mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine

Sinopharm is looking to develop its first mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. It will be Sinopharm’s first foray into mRNA technology and maybe the fourth addition to the company’s COVID-19 vaccine pipeline. 

mRNA vaccines have demonstrated great results during the pandemic. For example, Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines scored above 90% in efficacy. In comparison, Sinopharm’s BBIBP-CorV (Covilo) is 78.89% effective, which is relatively low.

Sinopharm’s 4 COVID-19 Vaccines

The firm has delivered 2 approved COVID-19 vaccines in China. Covilo was developed by Sinopharm’s Beijing unit. The inactivated vaccine is Sinopharm’s first COVID-19 vaccine. It is also the first COVID-19 vaccine approved in China. The other inactivated vaccine was developed by the Wuhan branch. It reaches an efficacy of 71.25%.

In addition, Sinopharm is working on a broad-spectrum recombinant protein COVID-19 vaccine. It received a nod on clinical trials from China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) in April 2021, and Sinopharm said the vaccine has finished phase 1/2 clinical trials.

Another mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine Developer in China

Sinopharm is not the sole mRNA vaccine maker in China. Suzhou-based Abogen Biosciences has already pushed trials of its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine ARCoV to Phase 3, which is being conducted in countries such as Mexico, Colombia, and Pakistan.

Abogen’s mRNA vaccine is a collaborative effort with Walvax Biotechnology and a research institute affiliated with the Chinese military.

In 2021, Abogen closed 2 big funding rounds, including a Series C round of $700 million in late August and a Series B round of $92 million in April. What’s more, Abogen finished the construction of an mRNA manufacturing site in July. It is China’s first GMP-approved mRNA production facility, and the plant is expected to deliver 40 million mRNA vaccines annually.

6 Homegrown COVID-19 Vaccines Approved in China

China has approved 6 COVID-19 vaccines to date. All of them are developed by domestic pharmaceutical companies, including Sinopharm, Sinovac, CanSino, Anhui Zhifei Longcom, and Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products.

To tap into the vaccine market in China, BioNTech has partnered up with China’s Fosun Pharma to file for vaccine approval. Its vaccine has the potential to become the first non-homegrown COVID-19 vaccine to gain NMPA’s nod, but China’s officials have yet to approve the shot.

Author

Tyler Chen

"Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died."- Erma Bombeck