China’s CanSino defends COVID-19 vaccine candidate

Earlier, scientists said that the success of the company’s vaccine might be limited as it is based on a common cold virus that many people have been exposed to. They said existing antibodies against the common cold virus might undermine Ad5-nCoV.

After experts raised concerns regarding CanSino’s candidate Ad5-nCoV, the company defended it.

On Wednesday, the company said, expert opinion on its high-profile coronavirus vaccine candidate should not be followed “blindly” without sufficient clinical trial data.

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“Vaccine development is a practice-based science, and we should not blindly follow experts,” Zhu Tao, chief scientific officer.

“It is unscientific to compare the antibody levels generated by different vaccine candidates so far because varied testing methods could distort results,” Zhu added.

Earlier, scientists said that the success of the company’s vaccine might be limited as it is based on a common cold virus that many people have been exposed to. They said existing antibodies against the common cold virus might undermine Ad5-nCoV.

Ad5-nCoV, still in final-stage trials, has been approved for use in the Chinese military.

AstraZeneca Plc has paused late-stage trial of one of its leading experimental viral vector-based vaccine, which uses a technology similar to CanSino’s, after an unexplained illness in a study participant.

“The hiccup does not mean all viral-vector based experimental vaccines are risky,” Zhu said, adding, “it was not rare for clinical trials to be paused.”

CanSino’s shares hiked up 6% at HK$181.50 ($23.42) this afternoon in Hong Kong.
($1 = 7.7503 Hong Kong dollars)