CEO of Chinese drugmaker defends his COVID vaccine’s January 2022 timeline

He argues that one dose is better than two, even with the longer wait.

There are currently over 100 COVID-19 vaccine candidates in development across the world, with some aiming for a rollout as early as the beginning of 2021.

Others have slightly longer timelines. Chinese vaccine company CanSino Biologics, for instance, is slated to conclude phase III trials of its vaccine, Ad5-nCoV, in January 2022.

For Yu Xuefeng, co-founder, chairman, and CEO CanSino Biologics, the trade-off is worth it. CanSino’s vaccine will be available in a single dose, instead of the two-dose regimen that other COVID-19 vaccines will require for a strong immune response.

Given the urgent need for mass distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine, there are huge benefits to a safe and effective dose that can be delivered in one sitting instead of two, Yu said at the Fortune Global Forum on Tuesday

“In the pandemic environment, what you need is a vaccine that can quickly provide protection…If we can make a single dose work, it will stop the spread of the virus and it will certainly have a good control of the pandemic situation,” Yu said.

CanSino’s Ad5-nCoV vaccine is backed by the Chinese military and is currently undergoing late-stage trials in Pakistan, Russia, and other countries, including Mexico, which said earlier this month it would purchase 35 million CanSino vaccine doses for its citizens.

The vaccine, which received Chinese government clearance for military use in June, uses a human adenovirus vector, which Yu said is “one of the safest” vaccine vectors. CanSino used the same vector to create its Ebola virus vaccine, which is split into two doses.

Data from the Ebola vaccine shows that a second dose can boost the effectiveness of the Ad5 vaccine, Yu says, so CanSino eventually may offer a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine for people with weaker immune systems.

CanSino hasn’t decided on a price for its COVID-19 vaccine yet.

“The price is less a concern for now,” Yu said. “We have to make it first.”

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