WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- A COVID-19 vaccine China developed has "outstanding efficacy data," said a report published on the Science magazine website on Wednesday.
The vaccine, developed by the China National Pharmaceutical Group (CNPG), had undergone phase III trials in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from June, involving 31,000 volunteers from 125 countries and regions.
The UAE announced on Wednesday the official registration of the Chinese company's COVID-19 vaccine.
The interim analysis of the phase III trials shows the Chinese vaccine provides 86 percent efficacy against COVID-19 infections, according to a statement of the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention.
The analysis also shows the vaccine to have 99 percent seroconversion rate of neutralizing antibody and 100 percent effectiveness in preventing moderate and severe cases of the disease. Furthermore, the analysis shows no serious safety concerns.
The report on Science website, entitled "Great efficacy claimed for another COVID-19 vaccine, this one from China," said the company's vaccine is the fifth COVID-19 vaccine to show signs of working, and it uses an entirely different technology from others.
According to the report, in contrast to the CNPG's inactivated virus candidate, the four other COVID-19 vaccines that have reported efficacy data rely on the surface protein of SARS-CoV-2, the cause of the disease, to trigger immune responses.
Those vaccines, none made in China, use messenger RNA that codes for the surface protein or stitch the gene for it into putatively harmless adenoviral vectors, said the report.
"If CNPG's vaccine indeed prevented 86% of infections and 100% of symptomatic disease, it would stand out as the best efficacy data yet," said the article.
The Chinese-developed vaccine was granted Emergency Use Authorization in September by the UAE health authorities to protect frontline workers most at risk of COVID-19. Enditem