In a laboratory in north Beijing, a man in white medical clothing raises a glass tube containing a sample of the first vaccine being tested against the emerging coronavirus ... and he may have in his hand the highly anticipated treatment around the world.
The hopes that Sinofac Biotech, one of the four Chinese certified laboratories, holds for clinical trials are great. Even if the vaccine does not prove to be effective, the special group confirms its readiness to produce 100 million doses annually to combat the epidemic that appeared in China at the end of 2019 before it is spread all over the world.
The source of the laboratory's confidence, which in 2009 outperformed its competitors, could be understood to be the first in the world to introduce a swine flu vaccine (H1N1).
And in its huge facilities in Changping, in the great suburb of the capital, Beijing, laboratory workers are examining the quality of the experimental vaccine that contains inactive pathogens, thousands of copies of which have been produced. It was placed in a white and red box called "Corona Vaccine".
Even if the treatment is still far from being approved, the laboratory must prove that it is able to mass-produce it and subject quantities to it to the control of the authorities. From here, production begins before clinical trials are completed.
And if more than 100 laboratories in the world are competing to find the first vaccine, less than 10 laboratories have, so far, conducted human experiments, according to the Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in London.
This is the case of the Senovac Laboratory, which confirms that it has achieved encouraging results for monkeys, before the vaccine was first tested on 144 volunteers in mid-April in Jiangsu (east).
But the laboratory, founded in 2001, will not reveal the date when the vaccine will be put on the market.
Sinovac, which employs 1,000 people, hopes to reach the end of next June the preliminary results related to product safety in the framework of trials of the first and second phases, said Ming Wenying, director of international affairs.
These experiments aim to verify that the vaccine does not pose a danger to humans. To be sure of its effectiveness, a third stage experiment must be performed in people who carry the virus.
Ming added that there is a problem "because only a few cases are recorded in China every day." In the event that a second wave of infections is not recorded on Chinese soil, the group will have to test the vaccine for those infected with "Covid-19" abroad.
He explained, "We are currently in contact with several countries in Europe and Asia." "A third stage test usually includes thousands of people. "It is not easy to get this number in any country."
South of Beijing, the group built a production site capable of securing 100 million doses of vaccine, which will become operational before the end of the year.
"We work day and night, around the clock, which means we never waste time," Ming declared.
A possible vaccine produced by the "Cinovac" group will not be sufficient to protect the inhabitants of the earth. Ming stressed that his group is ready to "cooperate" with foreign partners who are currently selling vaccines against influenza and hepatitis.
China will take revenge if it becomes the first country to provide a vaccine against the Covid-19 epidemic, after it was discovered that the epicenter of the emerging corona virus was the Chinese city of Wuhan.