SINOVAC BIOTECH BEGINS PANDEMIC FLU VACCINE CLINICAL TRIALS

Sinovac Biotech has initiated clinical trials for its pandemic flu (H5N1) vaccine Panflu. The vaccine was administered to the first six volunteers at the Beijing Sino-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing, China.

Due to this vaccine's mature technology, China's State Food and Drug Administration has approved modification to fast-track the clinical trial process from three stages to only two stages. Stage I includes 120 healthy volunteers, aged 18 to 60, and is expected to take nine-months. Preliminary results should be available by the end of March 2006.