KUALA LUMPUR: Solution Group Bhd’s wholly owned subsidiary, Solution Biologics Sdn Bhd, the Asean manufacturing partner of China’s CanSino Biologics Inc, said today CanSino’s Recombinant Covid-19 vaccine for inhalation (trade name: Convidecia Air) has received approval from China’s National Medical Products Administration to be used as a booster dose.
Solution Group deputy group managing director Datuk Dr Mohd Nazlee Kamal said the Malaysian Health Ministry’s Medical Research and Ethics Committee has given ethical approval to start a clinical trial of Convidecia Air in Malaysia, marking the first trial study of an inhaled version of Covid-19 vaccine in the country.
“This clinical trial will evaluate the immunogenicity, efficacy, and safety of Convidecia Air vs Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine as a second booster dose against emerging Variants of Concern of SARS-Cov2 to prevent breakthrough infections among sub-optimal responders to first booster vaccination”, he said.
Using the same adenovirus vector technological platform (Adenovirus Type 5 Vector) as the intramuscular version of Convidecia, Solution Group said Convidecia Air is the world’s first inhaled version of Covid-19 vaccine that can effectively induce mucosal immunity to establish the first line of defence in the respiratory tract and achieve comprehensive protection in response to SARS-CoV-2 as well as providing cellular and humoral immunities to the recipients.
Dr Mohd Nazlee said the product has unique advantages of safety, effectiveness, painlessness, convenience and availability.
“It provides a non-invasive option that uses a nebuliser to change liquid into an aerosol for inhalation through mouth which will effectively induce comprehensive immune protection against SARS-CoV-2 after just one breath,” he added.
Dr Mohd Nazlee disclosed that the study sites for this trial are at Hospital Ampang Selangor, Hospital Selayang and Hospital Kuala Lumpur. Anyone who is 50 years old and above with or without co-morbidities or any immunocompromised adults (18 years old and above) who have had the first booster dose are encouraged to participate in this trial with the potential benefits of probable improved protection from Covid-19 infections.
ACE Market-listed Solution Group focuses on two core activities – engineering, and biopharma and healthcare. Solution Group’s existing business segments consist of engineering equipment, industrial automation, biotechnology, renewable energy and metal fabrication and assembly. It is diversifying into biopharmaceutical-related business and allocating more resources to develop its renewable energy business, which designs, supplies and installs solar power systems for industry, commercial and residential users.
CanSino is a biotech company in China, dedicated to developing novel vaccines and therapeutics for unmet medical needs. The vaccines are jointly developed by CanSino and Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences.
