Photo:VCG

 China's first recombinant protein COVID-19 vaccine made from insect cells has been approved for clinical trials by the National Medical Products Administration, media reported on Saturday. 

Developed by the State Key Laboratory of Biological Therapy of Sichuan University affiliated West China Hospital, the vaccine uses insect cells to multiply in the culture medium and introduces the gene of COVID-19 into insect cells, which means the cell can be used as a factory to produce high-quality recombinant vaccine proteins and purify them for refinement.

The vaccine was tested on monkeys and other animals, and was found to have a good protective effect against COVID-19 infection, with no obvious side effects. The technology is expected to make it simple to quickly bring a vaccine to the market with mass production, Chinanews.com reported.

The safety of using insects to produce recombinant protein vaccines has been demonstrated by the successful development and marketing of cervical cancer and influenza vaccines in Europe and the US, media reported. 

In April this year, The West China Hospital of Sichuan University, the vaccine research team and a biological company established a new company, which is planning and designing the vaccine production line with an annual output of over 100 million needles by independent efforts, Chinanews.com reported. 

A Chinese inactivated COVID-19 vaccine has started phase-3 clinical trials in Peru on Thursday, Xinhua News Agency reported. Two months before, China's inactivated COVID-19 vaccine received approval for phase-3 clinical trials in the United Arab Emirates on June 23.

Observers believe that when a vaccine is available, China would provide vaccines to countries that cooperated with it in clinical trials at a cost, or donate vaccines to these countries.

Global Times