Originated by a Suzhou-based biotech founded two years ago and now being jointly developed with WalVax, China’s first homegrown mRNA COVID-19 vaccine is now entering the final stages of development.

China's regulators and spin doctors rush to remedy a comment from the nation’s top infectious disease official about the “not high” protection rate for its COVID-19 vaccines, amid debate over speedy development using mature technologies and doubts over protection in seniors. A slow roll-out is already presenting challenges to meeting an official 40% target.

While global vaccine heavyweights Merck & Co, Sanofi and GSK are so far not faring so well to successfully develop a vaccine for COVID-19, smaller players are stepping up. That's especially true for segmented markets such as China.

As China gears up to roll out millions of doses of its own vaccines to help fend off the coronavirus around the world, a scandal-ridden past continues to haunt the aspiring sector but is fading with improved regulation.