China has developed the world’s first vaccine that is effective against mutant strains of the Delta virus, according to the results of a clinical trial unveiled on September 22, which revealed the recurrence of the global COVID-19 pandemic due to the spread of the mutant strain.
According to the official WeChat of Chinese company Clover Biopharmaceuticals, the Phase II/III clinical data of SCB-2019 (CpG 1018/Al adjuvant), a recombinant protein candidate vaccine developed by Clover Biologics, were announced on the evening of September 22, and the efficacy of the vaccine against all mutant strains of COVID-19 reached a global leading level. Among them, the protection efficacy against Delta variant strain, which currently accounts for more than 90% of all COVID-19 cases worldwide, was 79%, while the protective efficacy against the other two variant strains, Gamma and Mu, was 92% and 59%, respectively.
The results of this clinical trial, jointly published by SCB-2019 developer Clover Biologics and the funding agency Consortium for Pandemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI), show that the Clover Biologics COVID-19 vaccine candidate is one of the first COVID-19 vaccines in the world to demonstrate significant protective efficacy against the Delta strain in a randomized, double-blind clinical trial with a favorable safety profile.
This marks the first coronavirus vaccine candidate in the world to be significantly effective against all three mutated strains and will provide a powerful weapon in the human response to the mutated COVID virus (SARS-CoV-2).
According to data released by Clover, the trial was a double-blind controlled trial that included more than 30,000 subjects and was conducted in five countries: the Philippines, Brazil, Colombia, South Africa and Belgium. According to Clover, all cases were caused by mutated strains, with Delta, Mu and Gamma strains accounting for the highest proportion, with the three accounting for 73% of all strains.
Clover plans to submit conditional marketing approval applications to various global drug regulatory authorities (including the State Drug Administration/Drug Review Center of China and the European Medicines Agency) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Upon receipt of conditional marketing approval, Clover Biologics expects to launch the first batch of COVID-19 candidate vaccine products by the end of 2021. Once approved on the WHO Emergency Use List (EUL), Clover will deliver up to 414 million doses of the COVID-19 candidate vaccine globally through the COVID-19 Pneumonia Vaccine Implementation Program (COVAX). Source