'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
CanSino Biologics Chief Executive Yu Xuefeng said on Friday he was confident his company's experimental COVID-19 vaccine using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology was as good as shots from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech.
As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves in China after the country abandoned its zero-COVID policy in December, domestic companies like CanSino are racing to develop mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.
The country - which experienced a wave of infections across its 1.4 billion population after the sudden relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions - has so far declined to use mRNA vaccines from abroad, and has yet to approve a domestic one that uses the technology.
Approved vaccines in China are widely considered less effective than the Moderna Inc and Pfizer Inc-BioNTech SE mRNA shots.
Yu acknowledged that it was not possible to directly test the CanSino vaccine versus the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech shots in a head-to-head trial because they were not available in China.
"But just based on published data...I'm confident our product is as good as the already launched mRNA vaccines," he told Reuters in an interview.
In January, CanSino reported "positive" interim data from its experimental COVID-19 mRNA booster vaccine, CS-2034, in a mid-stage clinical trial.
When asked whether Chinese authorities were keen to have a homegrown mRNA vaccine, Yu said there was not much public information on what was going on.
"But I will say, from the technology perspective, any product - as long as you meet the regulatory requirements - there's no reason to not allow to enter into the market."
CanSino is currently in discussion with Chinese regulators around the protocol for a late-stage study for CS-2034 - and the trial will definitely be conducted this year, Yu said.
If the vaccine is approved, the company is working on ways to reduce the costs of making and deploying its mRNA vaccine, he said, noting that it will definitely be cheaper than the roughly US$120 list price per dose Pfizer is hoping to charge in the United States later this year.
Although mRNA technology is more malleable and easier to tweak to address new variants versus traditional vaccine approaches, mRNA vaccines typically require more expensive ultra-cold storage.
However, researchers have made some strides in making sure formulations remain stable at somewhat higher temperatures.
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Police are searching for a suspect in a homicide investigation after a man was slashed in downtown Toronto on Sunday.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
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The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.