Sinopharm Develops MRNA-based COVID-19 Vaccine, Shows 79 Percent Effectiveness

Illustrasi vaksin Sinopharm. (Wikimedia Commons / Ministry of Defense of Peru)

JAKARTA - China's COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer Sinopharm is developing its own COVID-19 messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine, becoming a Chinese pharmaceutical group developing mRNA vaccine technology.

The move by the state-owned pharmaceutical group comes as concerns grow over the efficacy of an inactivated conventional virus vaccine, which has dominated launches in China.

Certain studies have shown that conventional viral vaccines produce fewer antibodies compared to mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines, the Financial Times cites Sept. 7.

Inactivated vaccines, such as Sinopharm's existing COVID-19 vaccine, use dead virus particles to generate an immune response. Meanwhile, mRNA vaccines contain genetic instructions that tell cells to make viral proteins that are the prima donna of the immune system.

Sinopharm is not the only Chinese company developing its own mRNA vaccine. Previously, a small manufacturer Walvax Biotechnology has conducted trials. However, the entry of bigger players like Sinopharm into the mRNA market could give the technology a significant boost in China.

"They are trying to develop this, the next-generation vaccine, because with the first-generation vaccine, booster injections have to be done and probably have to be done regularly," said Jin Dong-yan, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong.

"MRNA vaccines are much more potent than inactivated vaccines," he continued.

Previously, BioNTech, a German drug maker collaborating with distribution partners Pfizer and Fosun Pharma China to offer an mRNA vaccine, also targeted the Chinese market and is awaiting official approval from Beijing.

Separately, Zhu Jingjin, secretary of the Chinese Communist Party of China National Biotec Group, a unit of Sinopharm, said it is developing an mRNA vaccine as well as a broad-spectrum recombinant protein vaccine that is in clinical trials. The recombinant protein vaccine targets the spike protein that the virus uses to enter and infect human cells.

"We have developed vaccines for the Delta and Beta variants," Zhu told Chinese state media at the China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing, adding that phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials have been completed for the recombinant protein injection.

The phase 3 trial of the Sinopharm vaccine showed a 79 percent efficacy rate against symptomatic COVID-19 infection, if the injections were given within three weeks. Meanwhile, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has an efficacy rate of 95 percent.

To note, China has provided more than 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine, most of which are inactivated vaccines developed by Sinopharm and private vaccine manufacturer Sinovac.