(Yicai Global) March 23 -- The recombinant Covid-19 vaccine for inhalation developed by Tianjin-based CanSino Biologics has been approved by Chinese regulators for clinical trials.

This comes after the company’s intramuscular vaccine was previously approved for marketing in China. Shares of CanSino Biologics opened higher before closing down today.

The clinical trial of the recombinant Covid-19 vaccine Ad5-nCoV for inhalation developed by CanSino Biologics and the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology under the Academy of Military Medical Sciences was approved by the National Medical Products Administration yesterday, the company said in a statement on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange today.

Shares of CanSino [HK: 6185] surged more than 5 percent in early trading today, before closing down 0.17 percent at HKD281.6 (USD36) due to the overall market downturn. The Hang Seng Index fell 1.34 percent at the close.

CanSino’s shares listed on the Star Market [SHA: 688185] rose 2.84 percent to end the day at CNY399.51 (USD61.4) against the market trend. The Star 50 index fell 0.51 percent.

CanSino’s inhalation vaccine is identical to its previous recombinant vaccine, which gained conditional marketing approval on Feb. 25, in terms of raw materials and manufacturing process, according to The Paper.

But it uses a special device for nebulized inhalation immunization, which is less painful than traditional intramuscular injections and more conducive to mass distribution.

Currently, the Covid-19 vaccines granted emergency use or being conditionally marketed worldwide are all intramuscular injections, although several teams, apart from CanSino, are also working on vaccines for inhalation.

A nasal spray Covid-19 vaccine jointly developed by Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise, Xiamen University and the University of Hong Kong started phase II clinical trials in September last year, according to a statement issued by Wantai earlier this year.

Also last September, British Imperial College said that its research team would conduct a clinical trial to verify the effect of spraying the Covid-19 vaccine into the respiratory tract.

Editor: Peter Thomas