HONG KONG, Oct 5, 2020 – China Biotech Services (8037.HK) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Shenzhen Genius Biotech Services Co., Ltd. (“Shenzhen Genius”) and the National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention have entered into a technology transfer agreement for cell lines of a genetically engineered recombinant candidate vaccine for the 2019 Coronavirus (COVID-19). Shenzhen Genius has the right to develop, transfer, evaluate, register and conduct clinical trials for this vaccine. Shenzhen Genius also has the right to conduct clinical research, manufacture and sell the vaccine on its own or commission other entities to conduct the aforesaid or jointly conduct the aforesaid with other entities. The company has completed the global patent registration for the vaccine.
The Cell Lines of the Genetically Engineered Recombinant Candidate Vaccine will be used for the prevention of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia. Related animal experiments and efficacy trials have shown the vaccine to be well tolerated with no side effects. The vaccine is a genetically engineered subunit vaccine, which removes the harmful genes of SARS-CoV2 and is considered to be the safest type of vaccine among those currently under development.
The vaccine can be manufactured commercially through genetic engineering in an ordinary GMP manufacturing plant, thus eliminating the biosafety risk of cultivating the virus. It can quickly be manufactured with a high degree of safety at a low cost with annual production capacity reaching more than 2 billion human doses at one-fourth of the cost of existing vaccine types.
The biotechnology industry plays a pivotal role in containing COVID-19 as the virus rapidly spreads throughout the world. China Biotech Services, with its international research team, is one of the top ranking companies in cell drug development and medical testing in the world. As the third COVID-19 outbreak hit Hong Kong, China Biotech Services partnered with BGI Health (HK) Company Limited to incorporate Sunrise Diagnostic Centre Limited to provide community testing services to Hong Kong citizens. Nearly 2 million samples were tested with more newly confirmed cases identified, which help to cut the chain of infection and demonstrating Sunrise Diagnostic Centre’s accurate and efficient detection capabilities.
With people around the world eagerly awaiting a COVID-19 vaccine, China Biotech Services received the transfer of COVID-19 cell lines of genetically engineered recombinant candidate vaccine technology from Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, providing China Biotech Services the right to conduct clinical research, manufacture and sell the vaccine on its own. China Biotech Services formally joined COVID-19 vaccine research and development in hopes of reducing the spread of the deadly virus. The company is combining its precise testing capabilities with its advantages of actively accelerating vaccine research and its development and industrial production capabilities as it jointly accelerates the development of a vaccine to combat the COVID-19 epidemic.
The Cell Lines of the Genetically Engineered Recombinant Candidate Vaccine were developed by Professor Bi Shengli’s team which has years of extensive research experience in the field. Professor Bi is currently the Director of the Hepatitis Division of the National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. He graduated from Tongji Medical University in 1984 and the Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine in 1989. From 1989 to 1993, he was invited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States to conduct postdoctoral research. During this period, he was the first in the world to complete the gene sequencing of the human hepatitis E virus and the first Chinese researcher to complete the gene sequencing and cloning of hepatitis C virus. Professor Bi and his team will join China Biotech Services to collaborate with its team of scientists on the COVID-19 vaccine project.
China Biotech Services looks forward to working closely with Professor Bi and his team to fully promote the development and industrial production of the Cell Lines of a Genetically Engineered Recombinant Candidate Vaccine, as they fight to stop the COVID-19 epidemic. The Company is confident in the ability of the biotechnology industry to improve the quality of people’s health throughout the world. China Biotech Services, committed to creating an advanced biotechnology platform, will continue to explore enhanced technology and product collaboration and acquisitions internationally, as it embraces the tremendous development opportunities within the global medical and health industry.