China approves human trials for Sars vaccine

China has approved human trials for a home-grown Sars vaccine after tests were carried out safely on animals including monkeys, state media said yesterday.

The green light to start human tests was given by China's State Food and Drug Administration, China Central Television (CCTV) reported, as China kept up its vigilance following the recent emergence of three confirmed cases in southern Guangdong province where the deadly virus first emerged in late 2002.

Chinese doctors could begin human trials soon though it would still take an unspecified amount of time before the vaccine which aimed to make the body immune to the virus could be marketed, the official Xinhua news agency cited a State Food and Drug Administration official as saying.

A first phase of tests on humans would be aimed at ensuring the vaccine could be used safely and effectively on the body, Xinhua said. It did not say when or where trials would begin.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Sunday that China had won the battle against Sars after two of three Sars cases confirmed to have emerged in southern China in recent weeks recovered. The third Sars victim remains in stable condition in hospital.

Sars first emerged in Guangdong in 2002 before being spread by travellers to more than 30 countries, infecting about 8,000 people and killing nearly 800.

The global outbreak was declared over in mid-2003 by the World Health Organisation which says a viable vaccine could take at least two years to develop.

US scientists said last month their genetically engineered Sars vaccine showed promising results in monkeys. Canadian scientists also hope to test a vaccine on humans this year.

Despite claiming success in the battle against Sars, China is not letting up its guard ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday which begins on January 22.