China grants 1st patent to indigenously developed Covid vaccine

Beijing, Aug 17 (IANS) China has granted the first invention patent to a Covid-19 vaccine co-developed by biopharmaceutical firm CanSino Biologics Inc in the country, which experts said demonstrates the vaccine's originality and creativity.

According to a Global Times report, the vaccine is a recombinant adenovirus vaccine named Ad5-nCoV co-developed by CanSino with a team led by Chinese military infectious disease expert Chen Wei.

"The grant of the patent further confirmed the vaccine's efficacy and safety, and convincingly demonstrated the ownership of its intellectual property rights (IPR)," CanSino said in a statement on Sunday.

An officially granted patent would enhance the market's confidence in Chinese-developed Covid-19 vaccines, "especially that of the international market".

"The US has been making accusations since May that Chinese hackers were attempting to steal novel coronavirus data on treatments and vaccines without providing substantial evidence," said the report.

According to CanSino, they applied for a patent with the National Intellectual Property Administration on March 18, three days after they launched phase one clinical trials on the candidate and received approval on August 11.

The phase III trial on the vaccine "which will be conducted overseas is progressing smoothly," the company said in the statement.

CanSino has signed deals with Mexico to conduct late-stage clinical trials for Covid-19 vaccines.

Saudi Arabian health officials also announced on August 9 to cooperate with phase III clinical trials on the vaccine, recruiting around 5,000 participants.

CanSino has also reportedly been in talks with Russia, Brazil and Chile to launch a Phase III trial on Ad5-nCOV.

Meanwhile, Russia has begun production of the first batch of vaccines against Covid-19, its health ministry said in a statement over the weekend.

The world's first registered vaccine against the novel coronavirus was announced by President Vladimir Putin last week, during an online meeting with government officials.

The third stage of the research on the world's first registered vaccine against the novel coronavirus, called Sputnik V, may begin in 7-10 days.

According to the Tass news agency, several tens of thousands of people are expected to take part in this research of the vaccine created by the Gamaleya Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Russian Health Ministry.

The vaccine Sputnik V, which is named after the space satellite launched by Moscow in 1957, was created by the Gamaleya Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, alongside the Russian Direct Investment Fund.