A team in China said it was given the green light to start developing an inhaled version of its COVID-19 vaccine, Reuters reported. CanSinoBIO and the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology recently won approval for emergency use in Hungary for their injectable vaccine, Convidecia.
The newly issued USA follows the approval already granted by Pakistan and Mexico.
“We are pleased to see the Hungarian authority’s authorization for our vaccine, which marks an important step in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Xuefeng YU, president and CEO of CanSinoBIO, after the US from Hungary. “As CanSinoBIO continues to receive approvals from various governments on different continents, we are focusing on increasing production capacity to deliver our unique vaccines quickly and safely to countries that are in desperate need of massive protection against this pandemic.”
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The company had yet to publish a press release about the inhaled version of the vaccine. Previous studies involving the injectable product showed 95.47% effectiveness in preventing serious COVID-19 disease two weeks after vaccination, according to the company.
The next generation of COVID-19 vaccines currently in development includes needle-free options and those that can be stored at room temperature.
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Experts assumed that the next generation of the COVID-19 vaccine could include needle-free options, potentially helping to eliminate hesitation among needle-sensitive groups.
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According to Bloomberg News, the chief scientist at the World Health Organization said that up to six to eight new vaccines may be ready for regulatory review by the end of this year, including those that do not require a needle and can be stored at room temperature.
Soumya Swaminathan told news reports that several experimental candidates use alternative delivery systems, including more single-shot jabs and those administered orally, through a nasal spray and even potentially through a patch on the skin.
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“We need to continue to support research and development for more vaccine candidates, especially since the need for continuous population-boosting vaccines is not yet clear at this point,” Swaminathan told Bloomberg News. “So we need to be prepared for that in the future.”