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.

As the US responds to calls to waive intellectual property rights related to COVID-19 vaccines, China is already moving ahead with some of its own mRNA candidates.

Chinese officials do not expect the new strain of coronavirus emerging in the UK to impact the efficacy of inactivated virus vaccines on the cusp of conditional approval. Meanwhile, a new plant is under construction in China for domestically developed mRNA vaccines.

China has shown willingness to go tit-for-tat in its bilateral disputes with the US and the latest comments from US officials show an underlying distrust over clinical data and vaccines safety in China, raising fresh concerns just when collaboration is needed to accelerate availability of the first vaccines in the global pandemic.