NEW DELHI: National Health Agency of Brazil (ANVISA) has suspended 3rd phase of clinical testing of a Chinese-developed COVID-19 vaccine following an unfortunate incident involving a volunteer recipient, according to the CNN Brazil.
CoronaVac is a vaccine prospect for COVID-19 developed by a Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech. Its phase 3 of testing began in late July in collaboration with Brazilian Butantan Institute in Sao Paulo. The CNN Brazil added that the studies were halted due to a serious unfortunate event occurred to one of the volunteers in Brazil. Due to privacy regulations, no further details were provided.
The halt in trials marks a major setback for one of the China’s leading vaccine candidates. According to ANVISA, the testing of the vaccine has been interpreted to evaluate the data observed so far and judge on the risks and benefits of continuing the study. ANVISA on Monday, November 10, also said that with the halt in the study no new volunteers will be vaccinated.