Chinese healthcare firm offers clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccine in Pakistan

• We hope that a successful clinical trial in Pakistan will make it one of the first few countries for the launch of a COVID-19 vaccine, says Sinopharm.

One of the leading medical organizations in China, Sinopharm has claimed to have developed vaccine for the coronavirus and has invited Pakistan’s National Institute of Health for clinical trials.

“Through our representative HealthBee Projects Private Limited, we would like to extend our offer for cooperation on conducting clinical trials of our recently developed inactivated COVID-19 vaccine to the National Institute of Health (NIH) in our brotherly country, Pakistan,” read the letter sent to Major General Prof Dr. Aamir Ikram, Executive Director of National Institute of Health, by the general manager of China Sinopharm International Corp., Li Can.

“We hope that a successful clinical trial in Pakistan will make it one of the first few countries for the launch of a COVID-19 vaccine. The is the mission that Sinopharm has been given by the government,: read the letter.

Talking to local media, Dr. Ikram informed that the public would get the good news within three months if it all goes well, and was hopeful that they would cover all the testing processes in three months period.

The Chinese firm said that it is one of the first organizations to have led the development of a vaccine for the novel coronavirus. A state-owned enterprise, Sinopharm produces more than 80 percent of the mandatory immunization needs of China and played a leading role in fighting the COVID-19 crisis in the country.

Two different experimental coronavirus vaccines were approved for human tests by China last week. A unit of Sinovac Biotech and the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products are developing these compounds.

In March, China gave the green-light for another clinical trial for a vaccine candidate developed by the Academy of Military Medical Sciences and biotech firm CanSino Bio.