The Anima Research Centre at Alken, in Limburg Province, plans to test a Chinese vaccine against the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) on 400 persons, Flemish newspapers reported on Saturday.
China's Clover Biopharmaceuticals is the first, and so far the only pharmaceutical company to file an application to test a vaccine in Belgium, according to the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products, AFMPS.
The company is still awaiting a favourable opinion from the AFMPS Ethics Committee and final approval. It hopes to start clinical trials in the second half of March.
The Anima Research Centre is one of the institutions accredited to test the Chinese vaccine. “We plan to inject 300 to 400 subjects in April,” principal researcher Erik Buntinx said.
However, there are so far no plans to administer a Chinese vaccine to the general population since Europe has not yet authorised it.
The Brussels Times
