(Yicai Global) March 17 -- Cansino Biologics's stock price climbed after the Chinese pharmaceutical firm said that it is preparing to engage volunteers in its Covid-19 vaccine trials. 

Cansino's shares [HK: 6185] rose by 10 percent to HKD86 (USD11.10) this afternoon, the highest in a week.

The firm has started getting ready for clinical trials to test its recombinant adenovirus vector-based Covid-19 vaccine while waiting for regulatory approval, the Tianjin-based company said in a statement today. Cansino joined hands with Co & Institute Of Biotechnology, and China's Academy Of Military Medical Sciences to develop the inoculation.

The company has not released the results of animal tests yet so the effectiveness and the potential side effects of the vaccine are unclear, an industry expert told Yicai Global. Regulators naturally require these kinds of evidence before giving the green light for conducting human trials.

Using adenoviruses to deliver the drug to the target has a high risk of failure and it has also been found to cause immunodeficiency disorders and cancer, a virologist told Yicai Global.

Editor: Chen Juan, Emmi Laine