Testing of China’s candidate vaccine begins in Russia

MOSCOW | BEIJING: Russia’s Petrovax has started a late-stage trial of a Covid-19 candidate vaccine from CanSino Biologics in the country, records show, as the Chinese drug firm steps up testing abroad to close in on regulatory approval.

The Ad5-nCoV vaccine already has approval for use by China’s military after early and mid-stage trials, and further late-stage trials are being lined up for Mexico and Saudi Arabia.

CanSino last month said it was in talks for opportunities to launch late-stage — or Phase 3 — trials in Saudi Arabia, Russia, Brazil and Chile. The company has won a patent approval from Beijing for the vaccine, Chinese state media reported on Sunday.


This is the first trial of a potential vaccine developed by a foreign company to take place in Russia while the country prepares to start mass production of its domestic shot developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute.