China’s Clover shot 79% effective against Delta

Avaccine developed by Sichuan Clover Biopharmaceuticals was found to prevent 79 per cent of Covid-19 cases of any severity caused by the Delta variant in late-stage trials, making it the first Chinese shot to offer clear efficacy data against the variant causing resurgent waves of infections around the world.

The Clover candidate deploys protein on the coronavirus to stimulate immunity against Covid-19, an approach also used by the inoculation developed by Novavax Inc. It is 100 per cent effective against severe Covid-19 caused by any variants detected in the trial, including Delta, Gamma and Mu, which first emerged from India, Brazil and Colombia respectively.

The shot prevented 67 per cent of Covid-19 of any severity caused by any strain, the company based in western Chinese city of Chengdu said in a press release yesterday.

The efficacy data was conducted based on a total of 207 cases of symptomatic Covid-19 two weeks after participants received the second dose of either the experimental shot or a placebo. Genetic sequencing was conducted on 146 of the cases, with the Delta, Mu and Gamma variants accounting for nearly threequarters of them. The trial enrolled more than 30,000 adults and elderly across the Philippines, Brazil, Columbia, South Africa and Belgium, according to the company’s statement.