Four Chinese pharmaceutical companies develop new coronavirus vaccines

Chinese research and development in the field of corona vaccines are proceeding rapidly, and China seeks to defeat the world in this vaccine competition. But the New York Times said the vaccine industry, which was actively supported by Chinese leaders, has long been plagued by quality problems and scandals. The black history of some pharmaceutical companies is a concern. The memory of the “fake vaccine incident” that occurred in children two years ago is still fresh.

The report said that China made the development of a new vaccine against the coronavirus a national priority, and a senior official said that an emergency vaccine could be ready in September. However, People’s Daily once quoted Ding Sheng, dean of the School of Pharmacy at Tsinghua University, saying that at the preclinical stage, some companies “adopted some unconventional methods.” From a scientific point of view, “no matter how urgent, the standard cannot be lowered.”

It has been reported that four pharmaceutical companies in China have begun testing human candidate vaccines, but both the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products and Beijing Keksin Biotechnology have been involved in scandals such as adverse reactions to vaccines.

The state-owned Wuhan Institute of Biological Products was involved in the scandal in 2018. Defective diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and other diseases have been introduced to hundreds of thousands of children. Government authorities confiscated the Wuhan Institute of Biologics “Illegal Income” fined the company and punished nine senior executives.

After another scandal in Changchun-Changsheng using a “fake vaccine” of the same nature, Xi Jinping, who visited Africa, was angry and severely criticized: the company was fined $ 1.3 billion, and its chairman and executives were immediately arrested.

The New York Times cites court documents stating that the Wuhan Institute of Biologics has been prosecuted at least twice in China, and the plaintiff accused the institute’s vaccine of “adverse reactions.” In both cases, the court ruled that the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products paid partial compensation to the victims for a total of about $ 71,500.

Documents show that company executives were accused of bribing local CDC officials at least three times to thank them for purchasing vaccines. These executives were found guilty, but the company was not charged with a criminal offence.

The report cited court documents in Beijing, which indicated that Beijing biotechnology Keksin was also involved in bribery. Yin Weidong, then CEO of Kexing Biotechnology Co., Ltd., paid nearly $ 50,000 to the drug assessment official from 2002 to 2014 to help the company obtain a drug permit. But China Kexin was not charged. Yin Weidong is currently the CEO of the company.

According to the analysis, state-owned enterprises account for about 40% of the Chinese vaccine industry, and Chinese regulators also tend to keep their eyes closed. Many vaccine manufacturers work fearlessly, and they know that even if it turns out that they produce problematic products, they are unlikely to be shut down.

Just finding a vaccine is not enough. Chinese pharmaceutical companies must also gain public confidence: the public may prefer foreign vaccines over domestic ones.

The message quoted Ray Yip, the former head of China at the Gates Foundation: “The Chinese are not sure about the vaccines made in China.” “This is probably the biggest problem. If they don’t, people can queue up for the purchase. “