Chinese Omicron-specific vaccine gets clinical trial approval in UAE

CHINA, CANADA: China’s Suzhou Abogen Biosciences Co. said its COVID-19 vaccine candidate using the messenger RNA (mRNA) technology and targeting the omicron variant has obtained clinical trial approval in the United Arab Emirates.

With Friday’s announcement, Abogen joins Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna in trialing candidates modified specifically against omicron, a highly transmissible variant with increased resistance to antibodies elicited by existing shots. Mainland China has vaccinated over 88 percent of its 1.4 billion people against COVID with non-mRNA shots.

It has not approved any foreign vaccines, although real-world data indicated the two most used Chinese products, manufactured by Sinopharm and Sinovac, have lower effectiveness against COVID infection than mRNA shots from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. – THE MALAY MAIL, ARAB NEWS