A staff member takes out samples of the COVID-19 inactivated vaccine at a vaccine production plant of China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) in Beijing, capital of China, April 11, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei)
WUHAN, July 3 (Xinhua) -- China has completed the construction of a complex consisting of a research laboratory and a COVID-19 vaccine production workshop in Wuhan, which was hit hard during the epidemic, according to the China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm).
With a total floor area of 7,260 square meters, the complex is located at the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products (WIBP), which is affiliated to the China National Biotec Group (CNBG), Sinopharm.
The lab is capable of studying pathogenic virus vaccines, and the workshop can produce over 100 million doses of the inactivated COVID-19 vaccine per year, according to Sinopharm.
The construction team, which built two makeshift hospitals, Huoshenshan and Leishenshan in Wuhan at fast speed, finished building the complex in just over 100 days and nights.
With another CNBG workshop previously built in Beijing, the total annual production capacity of inactivated COVID-19 vaccines is expected to exceed 200 million doses, which will help ensure adequate supply, said Yang Xiaoming, president of CNBG.
WIBP started the phase 1 and 2 clinical trials for its inactivated COVID-19 vaccine candidate on April 12. A total of 1,120 volunteers, aged between 18 and 59, were involved.
The results showed a good safety record, and no severe adverse reactions were found in clinical trials. Vaccine receivers, inoculated with two injections in different procedures and doses, have all produced high titers of antibodies. For those receiving two injections at an interval of 28 days, the seroconversion rate of neutralizing antibodies reached 100 percent. ■
