China has approved early-stage human tests for two experimental vaccines to combat the new coronavirus that killed over 100,000 people worldwide, state media Xinhua reported on Tuesday.
The vaccines are being developed by a Beijing-based unit of Nasdaq-listed Sinovac Biotech, and by the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, an affiliate of state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group.
In March, China have the green-light for another clinical trial for a coronavirus vaccine candidate developed by military-backed China’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences and HK-listed biotech firm CanSino Bio, shortly after U.S. drug developer Moderna said it had begun human tests for their vaccine with the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Meanwhile, China reported 89 new coronavirus cases on Monday, down from 108 the previous day, the health authority said on Tuesday.
Of the total, 86 were imported, down from 98 a day earlier, the National Health Commission said.
China’s state broadcaster had reported earlier that 79 of the day’s imported cases were in the northeast province of Heilongjiang, which shares a border with Russia.
The number of total confirmed cases in China now stands at 82,249. Its death toll from the pandemic stands at 3,341, with no new deaths on April 13.