A nasal spray Covid-19 vaccine co-developed by Hong Kong microbiologist Professor Yuen Kwok-yung and his team with a mainland China university and pharmaceutical firm has been approved for emergency use by the national authorities.
Yuen, from the University of Hong Kong (HKU), on Monday night said the development was a “historic breakthrough”.
“The biggest meaning is that Hong Kong has made a vaccine itself for the first time and got an approval from the National Medical Products Administration for emergency use at the end,” Yuen said.
HKU, Xiamen University and Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy started clinical trials for the nasal spray vaccine on the mainland and in Hong Kong last March after central authorities gave the go-ahead.
The drug company confirmed in an announcement on Monday that the nasal vaccine had obtained approval for emergency use on the mainland.
Yuen said it would be a commercial decision for Wantai to decide it would apply for emergency use for the vaccine in the city.
The company said the phase-three clinical trial for the new vaccine, which was carried out in South Africa, the Philippines, Colombia and Vietnam, was completed and key information was obtained. The analysis of the main data collected was completed last month.
