A health worker prepares a vaccine against Covid-19 in Da Nang, November 2, 2021. Photo by VnExpress
Japanese pharmaceutical company Shionogi will conduct the third phase of a clinical trial for its Covid-19 vaccine in Vietnam and other Asian countries this month.
Isao Teshirogi, CEO of Shionogi, said on Monday that the company’s vaccine would be a “recombinant protein” vaccine, Nikkei Asia reported.
The vaccine is said to use “genetically engineered insect cells” to make copies of the coronavirus spike protein to trigger an immune response, a technique that has been used by several other vaccine makers.
Shionogi said the company is seeking approval for the vaccine in Japan to make it available in the country by the end of March 2022.
In addition to the vaccine, Shionogi is also developing a Covid-19 drug whose clinical trials have already started in Japan since September. Vietnam, along with Singapore, South Korea and the UK, are also expected to start testing the drug as early as this month.
Previously, in July, Shionogi signed a contract with Vabiotech and AIC to transfer Covid-19 vaccine production technologies, according to the Ministry of Health. Teshirogi said Vietnam agreed to clinical trials in exchange for the technology transfer.
Vietnam has vaccinated 58 million people with at least one vaccine against Covid-19. 25.1 million people have been fully immunized.
