Sinovac Biotech (NSDQ: SVA) announced the start of a Phase III trial of CoronaVac, its COVID-19 vaccine, in Turkey. The trial will first enroll 1,300 healthcare workers between the ages of 18-59, who will receive two doses of vaccine or placebo at a two-week interval. Then it will enroll 12,000 members of the general public under the same protocol. Sinovac has also completed China Phase I/II trials of the vaccine in adults and elderly people with seroconversion rates above 90%. The vaccine was well-tolerated, Sinovac added.

In Brazil, Sinovac has started a Phase III trial of CoronaVac that will enroll 30,000 volunteers. The trial is being run by Instituo Butanta, which will have rights to market the vaccine in Brazil in return for underwriting and running the trial. In China, CoronaVac was approved in China under Emergency Use guidelines, most likely for healthcare workers.

Sinovac's product portfolio includes vaccines against:

• enterovirus71 (EV71),
• hepatitis A and B,
• seasonal influenza,
• H5N1 pandemic influenza (avian flu),
• H1N1 influenza (swine flu),
• varicella vaccine and
• mumps.

The company is developing a number of new products including

• a Sabin-strain inactivated polio vaccine,
• pneumococcal polysaccharides vaccine,
• a quadrivalent influenza vaccine and
• a SARS-CoV-2 (commonly referred to as COVID-19) vaccine.

See our other articles on Sinovac.

Disclosure: none.