CanSino’s Late-Stage COVID-19 Vaccine Trial Enrolls Over 20,000

CanSino Biologics has enrolled more than 20,000 participants in a global phase 3 study of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, Ad5-nCoV, co-developed with a research arm of the Chinese military.

CanSino begun enrollment in September with plans to enroll up to 40,000 adults aged 18 and over, according to ClinicalTrials.gov. The trial is being conducted in Argentina, Pakistan, Russia, Mexico and Chile.

The adenovirus-based vaccine is one of five that China has progressed to phase 3 trials so far. The others include Sinovac’s CoronaVac, two candidates developed by the China National Biotec Group (Sinopharm) and one by Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biologic Pharmacy.

The Chinese government said it has administered more than 1 million vaccine doses to its citizens since July via emergency use approvals and plans to continue, despite concerns from the international scientific community about large-scale vaccinations ahead of the completion of phase 3 trials. ― Jason Scott