BEIJING (Reuters) – Argentina joined Peru, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates to approve phase 3 clinical trials of a coronavirus vaccine developed through China’s National Biotech Group (CNBG), the company said Friday.
As China advances the global race to expand a vaccine to curb the COVID-19 pandemic and instances in China decline, CNBG wants participants to look for other countries for testing.
Phase 3 trials, involving several thousand participants, allow researchers to gather knowledge about the effectiveness of prospective vaccines for final regulatory approvals.
CNBG will marry the ELEA of Argentina in the vaccine test, the Chinese company announced on an overdue date on Friday.
The CNBG experimental vaccine, a unit of the state pharmaceutical company China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm), obtained approval from the United Arab Emirates in June for a Phase 3 trial and has since recruited 15,000 volunteers.
The corporation said Thursday that Peru and Morocco also passed the tests.
The CNBG also received Bahrain’s approval for a Phase 3 to involve approximately 6,000 participants.
(Report through Roxanne Liu and Yew Lun Tian; Edited through William Mallard)