NHK reports that the clinical trials of the recombinant Covid-19 (sf9) vaccine, which was developed by WestVac Biopharma and the State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, have started in Japan.

The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare(MHLW) claimed that this is the first Chinese coronavirus vaccine to carry out clinical trials in Japan. It is reported that Nagasaki University has joined hands with Kobe Translational Medicine Research Center (TRI) in promoting the clinical trials of the vaccine in Japan, recognizing the safety and stability of the vaccine. In mid-August, they obtained the approval of the Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Agency of MHLW. Currently, Phase III clinical trials of the vaccine are in process in such countries as Mexico, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Kenya.

Being founded in July 2020 by the West China Hospital of Sichuan University, the vaccine research team and Tianfu International Bio-Town, Westvac is a vaccine and immunotherapeutic biomedicine research and development manufacturer. It is mainly engaged in vaccine research and development and immunotherapy biomedicine. It uses insect cells to develop COVID-19 vaccines and introduces coronavirus genes into insect cells. The cells are used as a factory to produce high-quality recombinant vaccines protein.In addition to the above-mentioned Covid-19 vaccine, Westvac is also developing and producing several innovative vaccine products such as the second-generation Covid-19 vaccines for mutant strains, recombinant multivalent influenza vaccines and tumor vaccines.