Domestic coronavirus vaccines perform well in clinical trials

Sinopharm upgrades factory capacity, aiming for 200 million doses a year

Two experimental vaccines for the novel coronavirus developed by research institutions run by China National Pharmaceutical Group, also known as Sinopharm, have shown positive signs of efficacy and safety, raising hopes that a vaccine could be available as soon as the end of this year.

Meanwhile, Sinopharm is ramping up its vaccine manufacturing capacity, aiming to produce at least 200 million doses of novel coronavirus vaccine a year to increase the accessibility of approved products, according to a statement posted on WeChat on Friday night by the State Council's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, which oversees Sinopharm.

The two inactivated vaccines have both "entered the first two phases "of clinical trials, with more than 2,000 human volunteers being injected with one of them, it said.