(Corrects DEC 31 story to show GSK did not participate in the
development of Cecolin, paragraphs 6-7)
BEIJING, Dec 31 (Reuters) - China has approved a pneumonia
vaccine developed by Chinese drugmaker Walvax Biotechnology's
unit, its National Medical Products Administration
said in a notice on Tuesday, offering an alternative to one of
Pfizer's best-selling products Prevnar 13.
Pfizer's Prevnar 13, which was approved in China in 2016,
was the only pneumococcal 13-valent conjugate vaccine available
around the world before Walvax's product, the notice said.
Walvax's pneumococcal 13-valent conjugate vaccine will be
mainly used to immunize children from six weeks through to five
years of age from the invasive disease caused by 13 types of
bacteria, the notice showed.
With more than 15 million newborn babies in 2018, China has
huge demand for vaccines targeting pneumonia, which is the major
cause of death of children under the age of five, the authority
said.
A total of 27 cases of viral pneumonia in the central city
of Wuhan were discovered and investigated by Chinese health
authorities, local health commission said on Tuesday.
Cecolin, an HPV vaccine developed by Chinese pharmaceutical
firm Innovax, has also notched approval for sales, the
administration said in a separate notice issued on the same day.
Cecolin will enter the HPV vaccine market shared by Merck's
Gardasil vaccines and GlaxoSmithKline's Cervarix.
(Reporting by Roxanne Liu and Brenda Goh, editing by Louise
Heavens)