(Yicai) Oct. 25 -- Chinese vaccine maker CanSino Biologics will receive a USD2 million sponsorship from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to research and develop its recombinant poliomyelitis vaccine.

CS-2036 is a polio vaccine candidate based on virus-like particles expected to contribute substantially to global polio control, including post-eradication, the Tianjin-based firm announced yesterday.

Unlike attenuated and inactivated vaccines against polio that have hit the market, non-infectious polio VLP vaccines are recommended by the World Health Organization as one of the preferential vaccines to eliminate polio, CanSino noted.

“To achieve the accessibility and affordability of polio vaccines in developing or underdeveloped countries, CanSino will ensure that the knowledge and information gained from the CS-2036 project will be promptly and broadly disseminated and the funded developments will be made available and accessible at an affordable price to people most in need within developing countries,” the firm added.

CanSino’s shares [SHA: 688185] were trading up 1.3 percent at CNY73.62 (USD10.07) as of 10.25 a.m. in Shanghai today.

CanSino is a Chinese vaccine startup focusing on R&D. It developed vaccines against tuberculosis in late 2011 and a vaccine against the Ebola virus in 2015. In 2020, it developed a Covid-19 inactivated vaccine.

In the first half of the year, CanSino reported a net loss of CNY841 million (USD115.1 million), versus a net profit of CNY12.2 million (USD1.7 million) a year earlier. Revenue fell 96 percent to CNY26 million (USD3.6 million) in the period. The earnings decline was mainly because of CNY700 million of asset impairment.

Editor: Futura Costaglione