Sinovac COVID-19 Vaccine Demonstrates Efficacy

Sinovac’s investigational COVID-19 vaccine, CoronaVac, was said to be 78% effective according to Brazilian investigators, where an ongoing phase 3 trial is happening.

Sinovac is a Chinese company and their vaccine is built upon an inactivated virus platform. It does not require a unique cold storage demand and therefore can be sent to developing countries where there might be refrigeration issues.

“Sinovac has sold more than 300 million doses, mostly to low- and middle-income countries, accounting for about half of the total doses that China says vaccine makers were capable of producing in 2020, based on an analysis of company statements and media reports, the NY Times reported.

Along with it being studied in Brazil, the company reported being involved in phase 3 trials in Indonesia, Turkey, and Chile.

Back in November, Brazil suspended Sinovac's trial due to the appearance of a serious adverse event. At the time, the company said in a statement that they believed the adverse event was not related to the vaccine.

The next day, Brazil's National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) authorized resumption of the trial. No additional information was reported about the participant’s adverse reaction.

In September, they reported positive data from one of their phase 1/2 trials. Their vaccine showed it was safe and showed an immune response. The vaccine was well tolerated across low, medium, and high dosages and there were no reports of any serious adverse events.

That same month they announced it had been approved to begin a phase 1/2 trial for adolescents and children in China. The company had also vaccinated 90% of its employees and their family members under the country's emergency use program, according to a Reuters report.

Another Chinese company, Sinopharm, recently reported on its COVID-19 vaccine, named, Inactivated Vaccine, and it demonstrated a 79% efficacy in preventing the virus based on interim phase 3 trial data.