Sinovac highly effective against serious COVID – Malaysia study

KUALA LUMPUR — Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine is highly effective against serious illness, although rival shots from Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca showed better protection rates, a large real world study from Malaysia showed.

The latest data is a boost to the Chinese firm, whose COVID-19 vaccine has been under growing scrutiny over its effectiveness following reports of infections among health-care workers fully immunized with the Sinovac shot in Indonesia and Thailand.

The study, conducted by the Malaysian government, found that 0.011 percent of about 7.2 million recipients of the Sinovac shot required treatment in intensive care units (ICU) for COVID-19 infections, health officials told reporters on Thursday.

Comparisons

By contrast, 0.002 percent of about 6.5 million recipients of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine needed ICU treatment for COVID-19 infections, while 0.001 percent of 744,958 recipients of the AstraZeneca shot required similar treatment.

Kalaiarasu Peariasamy, a director at the Institute for Clinical Research that conducted the study along with a national COVID-19 task force, said vaccinations—regardless of the brand—have reduced the risk of admission to intensive care by 83 percent and lowered the risk of death by 88 percent based on a smaller study involving about 1.26 million people.

“The breakthrough rate for intensive care unit admission is extremely low,” he said, adding overall ICU admissions among fully vaccinated individuals stood at 0.0066 percent.

Mortality rate of the fully vaccinated people was also low at 0.01 percent and the majority of them were either above 60 years of age or with comorbidities.

Demographics

There were differences in the demographics of the recipients of the three vaccines and it could have resulted in the different results, Peariasamy said.

Many of AstraZeneca recipients were in the “midadulthood age,” while the Pfizer and Sinovac shots were “very much for the vulnerable population,” he said.

AstraZeneca recipients also accounted for a much smaller proportion of the study, which involved about 14.5 million fully vaccinated individuals and conducted for more than five months since April 1.

In July, Malaysia said it will stop administering the Sinovac vaccine once its supplies end, as it has a sufficient number of other vaccines for its program.

The Sinovac vaccine has been widely used in several countries including China, Indonesia, Thailand and Brazil, and the company said earlier this month it had supplied 1.8 billion doses at home and abroad.

Malaysia has fully vaccinated 58.7 percent of its 32 million population and gave at least one dose to 68.8 percent.

-reuters-

Sinovac, Pfizer/BioNtech COVID-19 vaccines prove highly effective in Uruguay -government

ASUNCION - Uruguay on Tuesday released real-world data on the impact of Sinovac Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine among its population that showed it was over 90% effective in preventing intensive care admissions and deaths.

The shot reduced deaths by 95% and intensive care admissions by 92%, and also showed 61% efficacy in cutting coronavirus infections, the government said.

A total of 795,684 people - health workers and members of the general population between the ages of 18 and 69 - at least 14 days after receiving their second dose of Sinovac's CoronaVac were compared to unvaccinated people to determine the real-world vaccine effectiveness, the government said in a report.

The government also studied the effectiveness of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine among 162,047 health workers and people over 80 years old. The shot was 94% effective at preventing intensive care unit admissions and deaths, and reduced infections by 78%, the report said.

Overall, intensive care hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 dropped by more than 90% among Uruguayans who were fully inoculated, the data showed.

The tiny Latin nation with a population of 3.5 million managed to largely hold COVID-19 at bay with a strict lockdown last year. This year, it has seen a spike in cases that in recent weeks propelled it to the ranks of countries with the highest COVID-19 death rates per million, according to Our World in Data figures.

So far, it has vaccinated almost 52% of its population with at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine from Sinovac, Pfizer/BioNTech or AstraZeneca, received through the COVAX vaccine alliance, while 29% had been fully vaccinated, between the end of February and June 1, according to Ministry of Health data. 

Uruguay has registered 318,783 cases of COVID-19 since March 2020 and 4,692 associated deaths. 

-reuters-

Sinovac eyes doubling vaccine production capacity to 2 billion doses

BEIJING — Chinese biopharmaceutical firm Sinovac said Friday a third production line for its COVID-19 vaccine has been put into use, doubling its annual capacity of the jabs to two billion doses.

Its CoronaVac is one of four domestic vaccines given conditional approval by Chinese authorities, which helps rush emergency drugs to market.

On Wednesday, experts from the World Health Organization said an interim analysis of clinical trial data from two Chinese vaccines, including Sinovac's product, showed they demonstrated "safety and good efficacy", although more data is still needed.

"Over 200 million doses of CoronaVac have been delivered to over 20 countries, including China," said Sinovac in its latest statement.

Although Sinovac's jab has been approved by domestic regulators, it has yet to receive authorization by what the WHO considers "a stringent regulatory authority", noted the UN health agency's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE).

Sinovac is among Chinese firms to have submitted data in applications for the WHO's emergency use listing, which opens the door for the jabs to join the global Covax program, which aims to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccinations.

Agence France-Presse

Sinovac secures $515-M funding to boost COVID-19 vaccine production

SHANGHAI - China's Sinovac Biotech has secured $515 million in funding from a local firm to double production capacity of its coronavirus vaccine, the companies said on Monday, as it expects efficacy data of its experimental shot this month.

The investment deal also comes as Sinovac expands supply deals and trials of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine CoronaVac with more countries following positive results from early to mid-stage clinical trials.

China's Sino Biopharmaceutical Limited said on Monday a business unit will invest $515 million in Sinovac Life Sciences, a subsidiary of Sinovac, to help development and production of CoronaVac.

The investment will give Sino Biopharmaceutical a 15.03 percent interest in Sinovac Life Sciences, Sino Biopharmaceutical said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Sinovac said in a separate statement that it would be able to manufacture 300 million vaccine doses annually and aims to complete construction of a second production facility by the end of 2020 to increase annual COVID-19 vaccine production capacity to 600 million doses.

Depending on market conditions and the availability of financing, it may seek to further expand its production capacity, Sinovac said.

Sinovac has secured CoronaVac supply deals with several countries including Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil and Chile, and is holding talks with the Philippines for a potential sale. 

CoronaVac is also one of three experimental COVID-19 vaccines China has been using to inoculate around 1 million people under an emergency use programme. 

Brazil's Butantan Institute biomedical centre, which is running a Phase 3 trial of CoronaVac in the country, said last week that Sinovac was expected to publish efficacy results from its vaccine trials by Dec. 15.

-reuters-