China's Sinopharm claims results of its vaccine are 'better than expected'

China’s state backed pharmaceutical group - Sinopharm on Wednesday announced that data from the late stages of its large-scale clinical trials is “better than expected”.

One of Sinopharm’s units - China National Biotec Group (CNBG) has now pushed two vaccine candidates into the phase 3 of trials outside China. It is currently conducting trials in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt among many. And its trials involve over 50,000 participants.

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Sinopharm also claimed that the trails are about to end soon. They made the announcement on the Chinese social media network WeChat.

No other details were divulged. The details “better than expected” data have not been shared, and it doesn’t state which vaccine produced the good results.

Earlier, pharma major Pfizer announced that its vaccine, as per preliminary estimates, has been found to be 90 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19.

Pfizer said that the vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19 in participants without evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection in the first interim efficacy analysis. Analysis evaluated 94 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in trial participants, it said.

There are several players involved in the race, including India and China. In India, more than 10 candidates are in the final phase of trials. Researchers, governments and the private sector are working hard to find a vaccine. Right now, 52 vaccines are being tested on humans, with 11 in the final stage of trials. At least 87 other candidates - are in the preclinical trial stage, and are being tested on animals.

The Oxford vaccine has a clear lead over most candidates, and is in the final stage of trials. Three countries and the European Union, are now mulling its regulatory approval.