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China allows human testing of coronavirus vaccine developed in insect cells
China has approved human testing for a potential coronavirus vaccine cultivated in insect cells, local government said Saturday in the southwestern city of Chengdu.
China is in the global race to produce cost-effective vaccines to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic.
Using insect cells to develop proteins for coronavirus vaccine-the first in China-could accelerate large-scale development, the Chengdu City Government said in a note to the WeChat social media.
The vaccine, developed by the West China Hospital of Sichuan University in Chengdu, has been licensed by the National Medical Products Administration for entry into a clinical trial, according to the note.
Once tested on monkeys, the vaccine was shown to avoid SARS-CoV-2 infections with no significant side-effects, the note added.
Chinese scientists are now leading research on at least eight other possible coronavirus vaccines that have entered various phases of clinical trials.
Foreign players, including Germany's BioNTech and Inovio Pharma in the United States, have also cooperated with local companies to test their experimental vaccines in China.
