Clínicas Hospital in Curitiba Selected to Test Chinese Coronavirus Vaccine

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Federal University of Paraná‘s Clínicas Hospital is one of the 12 centers selected by the Government of the State of São Paulo, on Wednesday, July 1st, to participate in the CoronaVac third stage of human trials, a vaccine against the novel coronavirus developed by Chinese pharmaceutical giant Sinovac Biotech. The vaccine is one of the most promising in the world.

In all, nine thousand volunteers will be subject to clinical research, coordinated by the Butantan Institute, one of the world’s leading research, development, and production centers for immunobiology. In the city of São Paulo, the trials will be conducted by the USP Medical School’s Clínicas Hospital, Emílio Ribas Infectology Institute, and Albert Einstein Hospital.

The Municipal University of São Caetano do Sul; the University of Campinas’ (UNICAMP) Clínicas Hospital; the Rio Preto Medical School; and the Ribeirão Preto Medical School Health Center, all in the state of São Paulo, will also be involved.

The research will also be conducted in the University of Brasília (UnB); the National Institute of Infectology Evandro Chagas, in Rio de Janeiro; the Center for Research and Development of Drugs of the Federal University of Minas Gerais; and the Rio Grande do Sul Pontifical Catholic University’s (PUC) São Lucas Hospital.

Promising vaccine

The coronavirus vaccine developed by Sinovac is one of the most promising because it uses technology that is previously known and has been broadly applied in other vaccines. As such, the Butantan Institute believes that its adoption by the public health system should be facilitated. The Beijing-based laboratory has already tested the product on approximately one thousand volunteers across China in stages 1 and 2. Earlier, its experimental model administered to monkeys produced significant results in terms of immune response against the virus’ proteins.

Now the pharmaceutical company will supply Butantan with the vaccine doses to conduct stage 3 clinical trials in volunteers in Brazil, in order to prove its efficacy and safety.

Should the vaccine be approved, Sinovac and Butantan will sign a technology transfer agreement for industrial scale production, in both China and Brazil, for free supply to the SUS (National Health System). The following steps will entail the registration of the product by ANVISA (National Health Regulatory Agency) and its distribution throughout Brazil.

“The combination of Butantan’s experience in the production of immunobiology products, with Sinovac’s efforts, will allow the country to have an effective and safe vaccine against Covid-19, protecting people and saving thousands of lives,” said Dimas Tadeu Covas, director of the Butantan Institute and member of the São Paulo State Coronavirus Contingency Center.