Vials of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate, co-developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical firm CanSino Biologics Inc and a team led by Chinese military infectious disease expert, are pictured in Wuhan, in Hubei Province, China, on March 24, 2020. (Photo by Reuters)

China’s vaccine specialist CanSino Biologics Inc has won a patent approval from Beijing for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate Ad5-nCOV, state media reported, citing documents from the country’s intellectual property regulator.

It is the first COVID-19 vaccine patent granted by China, state-owned newspaper People’s Daily reported on Sunday.

The paper cited documents published by China’s National Intellectual Property Administration as saying that the patent was issued on Aug. 11.

Saudi Arabia said this month it plans to begin Phase III clinical trials for the CanSino vaccine. CanSino has said it is also in talks with Russia, Brazil and Chile to launch Phase III trials in those countries.

CanSino’s Hong Kong shares rose around 14% in Monday’s morning session. Its Shanghai shares rose by 6.6% as of midday.

Britain encourages at-risk groups to sign up for COVID-19 vaccine trials

Britain on Monday urged elderly people and volunteers from Black and Asian minority groups to sign up to a COVID-19 vaccine trial registry to boost efforts to find a working vaccine against the disease that offers protection against higher-risk groups.

Over 100,000 people have volunteered to take part in vaccine trials, Britain’s business ministry said, but more volunteers are needed to make sure candidate shots work for everyone.

Protecting those at risk is the only way we will end this pandemic, said Kate Bingham, chair of the UK Vaccines Taskforce.

Getting 100,000 volunteers on board is a great start but we need many more people from many different backgrounds that we can call on for future studies if we are to find a vaccine quickly to protect those who need it.

The government said it was particularly keen for over 65s, front-line health and care workers and people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds to sign up.

A study last week showed that minority ethnic groups were two to three times more likely to have had COVID-19 compared to white people in England. Disproportionate numbers of people from minority groups have also died from the disease.

(Source Reuters)