Xiamen Innovax Biotech Co. in China has now released for distribution the world’s firs Hepatitis E vaccine Hecolin.
Hecolin was developed by Xiamen University and Xiamen Innovax in southeast China’s Fujian Province, and was approved for production last December 2011.
Clinical trial of Hecolin that involved 113,000 volunteers was done in Jiangsu Province two years before its release to the market.
Gao Yongzhong, general manager of Xiamen Innovax, said that the company is working with Chinese government to offer the vaccine to the public, and is also cooperating with international organization to distribute it to other countries.
World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that around 20 million people are infected by Hepatitis E, with the virus being shed in feces and spread through contaminated water and food. In China, it is the most common type of Hepatitis virus.
Hopefully, Hecolin vaccine would curb the spread of Hepatitis E in China, southeast asia and the rest of the world. Source: PNA.