China's mRNA tumor vaccine approved for clinical trials

BEIJING, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- A new injection, which is an mRNA vaccine for Epstein-Barr virus positive tumors, has been approved by the Center for Drug Evaluation of the National Medical Products Administration for Phase-I clinical trials.

The new injection, independently developed by WestGene Biopharma Co., Ltd. in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, received the Investigational New Drug approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in May this year and has completed the Investigator-Initiated Trials in two indications including nasopharyngeal carcinoma and lymphoma.

Epstein-Barr virus was identified as a Group-I carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, said Song Xiangrong, a co-founder of WestGene Biopharma, adding that it was the first human oncogenic virus to be discovered.

Such virus is correlated with more than 10 types of malignant tumors such as nasopharyngeal carcinoma, lymphoma and gastric cancer, said Song. And mRNA tumor therapeutic vaccine is one of the major breakthroughs in the field of mRNA innovative drugs and tumor immunotherapy.

The company will conduct more clinical trials across the country to promote the application of the mRNA vaccine as soon as possible.  ■