Sinovac Biotech (NSDQ: SVA) of Shanghai has been approved to begin a China trial of its inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate. The company says the vaccine has shown efficacy in animals and seems to be effective in virus strains from non-China countries.

However, Sinovac also said China sales of its approved products have stopped because of the virus outbreak and exports have been slowed due to cancellations of cargo flights and inflated freight costs. It worries that continued disruption of the company's clinical trials, suppliers and contract manufacturers will slow development of new products.

Mr. Weidong Yin, Chairman, President, and CEO of Sinovac, commented, “At present, the whole world is facing an unprecedented public health crisis. It is a matter of urgency to develop an effective vaccine to control the spread of COVID-19 globally, as quickly as possible. Sinovac has been working closely with the regulators in China in order to make this happen. Sinovac has always been committed to developing vaccines for global use when facing pandemics.”

Sinovac's product portfolio includes vaccines against:

• enterovirus71 (EV71),
• hepatitis A and B, s
• easonal 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.