Interview: CNBG vaccine protects against variant coronavirus strains: company chairman

A staff member checks a COVID-19 inactivated vaccine product at a packaging plant of the Beijing Biological Products Institute Co., Ltd. in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 25, 2020.(Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei)

BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The inactivated vaccine developed by China National Biotec Group (CNBG) affiliated with Sinopharm is broad-spectrum and can cross-neutralize different coronavirus strains, CNBG chairman Yang Xiaoming told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"Tests for the mutant strains found in Britain are in progress, and the preliminary results are good. It (the vaccine) can induce protection," said Yang.

China granted conditional market approval for the vaccine developed by the Beijing Biological Products Institute Co., Ltd. under the CNBG last month. It showed 79.34 percent efficacy against COVID-19, and the seroconversion rate of neutralizing antibodies reached 99.52 percent, according to the interim results of the phase-3 clinical trials.

According to Yang, more than 10 million doses of self-developed vaccines have been administered in China, with the side effects mainly limited to pain at the injection site, headache, muscle pain and fever.

He said that the CNBG vaccine can induce antibodies against the coronavirus 10 days after the first shot, but there is a big difference in the antibody level in different people. The antibodies will reach a higher level 14 days after the second shot, providing adequate protection against the virus.

Yang added that the CNBG explored different vaccination procedures and doses in the clinical trials. The results showed that the vaccine has the best effect when the second shot is three or four weeks after the first one.

"The CNBG is closely observing the length of protection its vaccine can offer," noted Yang.

The earliest group was given the vaccine eight months ago, and it is still working. According to the data so far, the CNBG vaccine can offer protection for at least six months, and the company is still testing whether it can defend against the virus for eight months or more.

As for whether children can get the CNBG vaccine, Yang said that so far the company has found no significant difference between different age groups in terms of safety and effectiveness. Children aged from 3 to 17 years can get the CNBG vaccine, he said.

Yang noted that, for children aged from 3 to 5 years, the immune system is still at the development stage. They should be carefully observed when they are vaccinated.

In addition to the inactivated vaccine developed in Beijing, the CNBG has developed another one through the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, which is still awaiting approval.

According to Yang, the CNBG has built high-level biosafety production workshops in Beijing and Wuhan. The production capacity is expected to reach more than 1 billion doses this year.

Yang said the company has a large number of overseas orders. It spares no efforts to expand production on the premise of a stable production process, safety and effectiveness that meet the requirements of China's drug regulatory systems and quality indicators.