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China OKs Heterologous Booster Shots Amid Heated COVID Vaccine Race

Major Commercial Opportunity Opens Up

 
• By Dexter Jie Yan

CanSino and Zhifei have received the regulatory green light for their respective COVID-19 booster shots in China and an estimated $1.3bn vaccine market is now up for grabs. Domestic contenders are set to elbow each other in the sector with a range of viral vector, recombinant protein and mRNA-based jabs.

mRNA COVID-19 vaccine
Estimated $1.3bn new market in China up for grabs by COVID-19 vaccine makers • Source: Alamy

Chinese regulators have removed the lid on an estimated CNY8bn ($1.3bn) domestic market to COVID-19 vaccine makers with the first approvals for heterologous booster jabs. Companies are now rushing to develop their candidates and inoculate potentially hundreds of millions of people.

Two producers, Shanghai- and Hong Kong-listed CanSino Biologics Inc. and Shenzhen-listed Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products Co. Ltd

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