KUALA LUMPUR: Solution Group Bhd's (SGB) wholly-owned subsidiary, Solution Biologics Sdn Bhd (SBSB), has confirmed that CanSino Biologics Inc's (CanSino) single-dose Convidecia vaccine is an effective booster shot against the spread of Covid-19 variants.
The company based this on data from a recent Chinese clinical study, which found that taking a booster shot with CanSino's single dose after receiving a two-dose inactivated vaccine is safe and effective at producing an immune response to the Covid-19 virus.
SGB deputy group managing director Datuk Dr Mohd Nazlee Kamal said with the new data, the company see that a booster dose of CanSino's single-dose Covid-19 vaccine can help increase antibody responses among the study participants who had previously received one or two doses of inactivated vaccine.
"We hope that with the results of the study, the government will consider including CanSino's Convidecia vaccine as part of the booster dose programme.
"We have the infrastructure through our fill-and-finish facility and the capacity ready to take on the rise in demand. We can provide the booster shots for Malaysia and, at the same time, supply to the ASEAN region," he said in a statement today.
The study carried out by Jiangsu Center of Disease Control published by MedRxiv before a peer-review revealed that the Convidecia booster shot demonstrated an increase of at least 78-fold in average neutralising antibody levels compared with a booster shot with the same inactivated vaccine showing a 15.2-fold increase in antibody levels.
The base for the study came from a randomised, controlled, observer-blinded trial of 300 participants aged between 18 and 59 years old who received one dose of Sinovac Biotech Ltd's (Sinovac) CoronaVac in the past one to three months or two doses in the past three to six months.
The study then compared Sinovac's CoronaVac with CanSino's Convidecia as a booster shot for safety and immune response.
Malaysia is considering booster shots to enhance the immune system against the virus beginning in early October.
The supply agreement signed by SBSB with the Ministry of Health (MoH) to supply 3.5 million doses of CanSino's Convidecia vaccine will be fulfilled by November 2021, with 300,000 doses already handed over to the MoH last month.
"Total of 2.6 million doses will be delivered by end-October, with the entire supply of 3.5 million doses to be completed by November," Mohd Nazlee said.