China’s monkeypox shot will target the actual virus

China has started work on a monkeypox vaccine using virus taken directly from a patient, marking a departure from the western approach of repurposing an existing shot as it seeks to counter incursions from elsewhere in the world.

China has started work on a monkeypox vaccine using virus taken directly from a patient, marking a departure from the western approach of repurposing an existing shot as it seeks to counter incursions from elsewhere in the world. China National Biotec Group, a vaccine-making subsidiary of the state-owned pharmaceutical company Sinopharm, said it successfully isolated the monkeypox virus and started developing vaccines and drugs that target the pathogen.

China has reported only one monkeypox case so far, in September, in a man who returned from abroad. (Shutterstock)

Countries such as the UK, US and others across Europe are deploying an older shot from Danish drugmaker Bavarian Nordic A/S that was originally intended to protect against smallpox. The hope is that it will also offer some protection against monkeypox, a close cousin of the virus.

China’s First Imported Monkeypox Case Reported in Chongqing

China has reported only one monkeypox case so far, in September, in a man who returned from abroad. Meanwhile, the number of infections has surpassed 73,000 in more than 100 countries, and the World Health Organization declared it a public health emergency of international concern.

Little is known about the Bavarian Nordic shot’s efficacy against monkeypox. Countries are carrying out studies as they vaccinate at-risk groups, such as men who have sex with men. Developing a shot based on the specific virus it seeks to protect against might boost the chances of getting better protection, though the immunization will need to be validated through rigorous, multi-stage clinical testing.

Monkeypox Vaccine Study Raises Questions About Protection (1)

Sinopharm previously developed two inactivated vaccines against Covid-19 that have been widely used in China and the developing world, though they were largely considered to be less effective than the mRNA shots developed by Moderna Inc. and the partnership of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.