(Reuters) - A vaccine against the coronavirus developed by CanSino Biologics Inc and China's military research unit appears to be safe and induced immune responses in most subjects in a closely-watched mid-stage study, researchers said on Monday. The CanSino candidate, Ad5-nCOV, which was tested in 508 subjects, is one of a handful of vaccines that have shown some promise in early human testing prior to much larger trials to demonstrate efficacy. Others also gearing up for such pivotal vaccine trials include Moderna Inc, BioNTech SE in partnership with Pfizer Inc.Data from a combined early/midstage trial of a vaccine candidate being developed by researchers at the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca was also released on Monday. A safe and effective vaccine against the novel coronavirus is seen as essential to ending a pandemic that is still raging and has claimed more than 600,000 lives worldwide.

Source: International New York Times July 20, 2020 14:32 UTC