Stemirna COVID-19 vaccine candidate obtains clinical trial approval in China

BEIJING: A COVID-19 vaccine candidate from Chinese firm Stemirna Therapeutics obtains approval to conduct human testing from China's medical products regulator, the firm's partner said on Tuesday.

The potential vaccine, which Stemirna has started working on since January last year, is based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, Tibet Rhodiola Pharma, which is jointly developing the candidate with Stemirna, said in a filing.

The mRNA technology is also used in vaccines from Moderna Inc and Pfizer Inc. Both these vaccines are being rolled out in the United States.

A Chinese mRNA COVID-19 vaccine candidate, being jointly developed by the Academy of Military Science (AMS), Walvax Biotechnology and Suzhou Abogen Biosciences, has also entered early-stage clinical trial.