Russia Tests Chinese Recombinant COVID-19 Vaccine

Russia’s company Petrovax Wednesday began the last phase of human trials of the recombinant Ad5-nCoV vaccine, which was got by the partnership between the People's Liberation Army (EPL) and the Chinese biopharmaceutical company CanSino Biologics.

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After promising results were obtained in earlier research, Russian scientists coordinated with CanSino Biologics to apply the drug to 625 volunteers at eight health institutions.

Clinical trials will also be carried out soon in Mexico and Saudi Arabia. Negotiations to do so in Brazil and Chile continue.

So far, Ad5-nCoV is the only COVID-19 vaccine patented by China. It results from a public-private partnership which was led by biowarfare expert Chen Wei.

A recombinant vaccine is produced by "inserting the DNA encoding an antigen that stimulates an immune response into bacterial or mammalian cells, expressing the antigen in these cells, and then purifying it from them," specialized outlet Nature explained.

Taking advantage of the existing scientific information on a research process related to Ebola, her team got the new vaccine and began to apply it in mid-March.

In the second phase of its tests, the recombinant vaccine proved to be effective and safe in 508 volunteers, who only had adverse reactions such as fever, arrhythmia, diarrhea, and dizziness.

On June 29, CanSino Biologics reported that the drug had been approved for military personnel for the next year. China’s Central Military Commission will allow its use in any other injection scheme for civilians.