A staff member tests samples of the COVID-19 inactivated vaccine at a vaccine production plant of China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) in Beijing, capital of China, April 11, 2020. (ZHANG YUWEI / XINHUA)

BEIJING – An inactivated COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by China is safe and generates an immune response, according to data from clinical trials published in The Journal of the American Medical Association this week. 

The research paper provided an interim analysis of the phase-1 and phase-2 clinical trials of an inactivated COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products under the China National Biotec Group (CNBG), affiliated with Sinopharm, and the Wuhan Institute of Virology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. 

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Results showed the vaccine effectively induced neutralizing antibodies in the volunteers and demonstrated good immunogenicity

The research involved data on 320 healthy volunteers aged between 18 and 59, of which 96 participated in phase-1 clinical trials and 224 participated in phase-2 trials. 

The research reported geometric mean titers of neutralizing antibodies in the volunteers, who were separated into low-dose, medium-dose and high-dose groups. 

The results showed that the vaccine effectively induced neutralizing antibodies in the volunteers and demonstrated good immunogenicity – the ability of a substance to trigger an immune response. 

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The research paper also evaluated the safety of the vaccine, reporting that no serious adverse reactions were observed.  

The most common adverse reaction was pain at the injection site, followed by fever, both of which were mild and self-limiting.