Sinovac reports preliminary Phase I / II results of COVID-19 vaccine in elderly

Sinovac Biotech Ltd. a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, announced that the inactivated COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by Sinovac Life Sciences (Sinovac LS), or " " CoronaVac "Phase I / II clinical studies conducted in China showed good safety and immunogenicity in healthy adults aged 60 years and older, which is comparable to earlier studies in healthy adults aged 18 to 59 years.

Phase I / II clinical trials in older volunteers were randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled trials, with immunizations performed every two days at 28-day intervals.

A total of 421 healthy adults aged 60 to 89 years were tested for CoronaVac in the Phase I / II clinical trials. The vaccine candidate appeared to be well tolerated in the low, intermediate and high dose groups. No serious vaccine-related adverse events were reported. Seroconversion rates and GMT levels in elderly volunteers were comparable to those in the adult group aged 18 to 59 years. Based on the results, the medium dose was selected to enter the phase III trial. Seroconversion rates and GMT were 98.0% and 42.2 in elderly volunteers in the medium-dose group and 97.4% and 44.1 in healthy adults, respectively, and detailed data will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Mr. Weidong Yin, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sinovac, said, "I am pleased that our vaccine candidate is showing encouraging results, particularly for elderly volunteers in highly vulnerable populations affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. As Sinovac accelerates its development to develop a vaccine against the rapid spread of the virus, we have completed construction of our manufacturing facility and have begun production of CoronaVac.Sinovac remains committed to developing a vaccine against the coronavirus."