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(Yicai Global) June 5 -- China has become the first nation to approve clinical trials for a tetravalent vaccine against different strains of norovirus in an effort to eradicate the highly contagious virus that often causes acute viral gastroenteritis.
The Institut Pasteur of Shanghai has received a permit from the National Medical Products Administration to begin testing the vaccine on humans, Xinhua News Agency reported, citing the institution that functions under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The inoculation is expected to go through five years of tests before the IPS may apply for a license to sell it, Tang Hong, director of the institute, told Xinhua.
The IPS and Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical have been developing the vaccine for four years and the drug is supposed to prevent from 80 percent to 90 percent of viral infections.
The infection rate of norovirus has spiked in China over the recent years so it has become an urgent public health issue, a researcher said to Xinhua. The virus infects about 685 million people worldwide each year.
Editor: Emmi Laine