China grants 1st COVID-19 vaccine patent to domestic candidate

Chinese authorities have granted the first invention patent to a domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine candidate, which experts said demonstrates the vaccine's originality and creativity, and would enhance the international market's trust in Chinese-developed COVID-19 vaccines.

The vaccine, a recombinant adenovirus vaccine named Ad5-nCoV, is co-developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical firm CanSino Biologics Inc., one of the vaccine candidate's co-developers, and a team led by Chinese military infectious disease expert Chen Wei.

According to a document published on the website of China's National Intellectual Property Administration, the vaccine can start mass production in a short time period in case of an outbreak.

The grant of the patent further confirmed the vaccine's efficacy and safety, and convincingly demonstrated the ownership of its intellectual property rights (IPR), CanSino said in a statement on Sunday. 

Tao Lina, a Shanghai-based vaccine expert, believed that the patent grant would probably facilitate the marketing process. An officially granted patent would also enhance the confidence in Chinese-developed COVID-19 vaccines by the market, especially the international market, added Tao.