(Yicai Global) May 13 -- China's Walvax Biotechnology will team up with Suzhou-based startup Aibo Biological Technology to develop vaccines against Covid-19 and shingles by using a pioneering messenger ribonucleic acid technology that no one has brought to the market yet.

The pair will share the intellectual property, except for the mRNA platform that belongs to Aibo, the Kunming-based firm said in a statement yesterday.

Governments around the world have not given the go-ahead to any mRNA vaccines for human use yet so the outlook is uncertain, the statement added. But global drug giants such as Moderna and Pfizer have sought to use the novel -- and potentially more effective type of -- vector for their Covid-19 vaccine candidates.

Aibo, which already has experience of the new technology, will take care of the early stages of product development while Walvax will handle regulatory filings, clinical trials, and production. Walvax will pay Aibo CNY80 million (USD11.3 million) for the Covid-19 vaccine and CNY110 million for the shingles one for its efforts plus sales commissions.

Walvax’s stock price [SHE:300142] fell 0.3 percent to CNY42.29 (USD6) this afternoon.

Editor: Emmi Laine