China's firm starts Phase III trials for potential Covid-19 vaccine

SinoVac is building a vaccine plant, which it hopes will be ready this year and capable of making up to 100 million shots a year

China's SinoVac is starting phase III trials of its potential coronavirus vaccine, it said on Monday, becoming one of three companies to move into the late stages in the race to develop an inoculation against the disease.

It will start recruiting volunteers this month, it said in a release published on China's WeChat messaging app platform. Last week, Brazil gave the go-ahead for the company to start testing volunteers in the country.

The World Health Organization's (WHO) latest document released on Monday outlining the status of trials being conducted around the globe said SinoVac's was now at Phase III.

AstraZeneca's