City ramps up production of single-dose COVID-19 vaccine

China is speeding up production of a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in Shanghai, with annual production capacity of about 200 million units, Shanghai Daily learned today at the Shanghai Global Investment Promotion Conference.

Shanghai Pharmaceuticals and STAR-listed CanSino Biologics will produce the one-shot vaccines in a factory in Baoshan District, with an investment of 400 million yuan (US$62.5 million).

Total investment in the project, which covers COVID-19 and other vaccines, will reach 1.5 billion yuan.

In February, CanSino announced conditional marketing authorization from the National Medical Products Administration of China for its single dose Recombinant Novel Coronavirus Vaccine — or Convidecia — making it the first of its kind to be authorized in China, according to the company's website.

The single-dose vaccine provides efficient and timely protection while eliminating the risk of infection that exists between injections of double-dose COVID-19 vaccines, industry officials said.

In overseas markets, the CanSino vaccine has received conditional marketing authorization in countries such as Pakistan and Mexico, according to media reports.

Founded in 2009, CanSino is now listed in both Hong Kong and the Shanghai STAR Market.