Three Chinese Omicron-Targeting Shots to Trial in Hong Kong

(Bloomberg) -- Three Chinese inactivated vaccines that target the omicron variant of coronavirus have won approval to start clinical trials in Hong Kong, according to developers of the shots.

China National Biotec Group Company Ltd., a vaccine-developing subsidiary of state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group Co. also known as Sinopharm, announced the news on its WeChat account on Saturday. The trials will look at the safety of the inoculations and their ability to stimulate an immune response in adults who have received two or three doses.

The vaccines were jointly developed by China National Biotec and the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products Co.

Separately, an inactivated vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech Ltd. targeting the highly contagious variant has also got the green-light for testing in the city, according to a company statement. The firm started applying with multiple countries and regions for trials of the shot in February, and the Hong Kong government is the first to give the nod, it added.

Sinopharm said in a recent release that its second-generation recombinant protein Covid-19 vaccines had received approval from Beijing for clinical trials. The improved version has already been accepted by the United Arab Emirates as a booster shot and enhances the immune response to the coronavirus, Bloomberg News reported earlier this month.

China is currently grappling with its worst Covid outbreak since the early days of the pandemic. The number of infections in the world’s second-largest economy hit 24,680 on Friday, and financial hub Shanghai reported more than 23,500 new cases.

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With assistance from Bloomberg