On Sunday, China National Biotec Group (CNBG) said that the initial coronavirus vaccine’s human test results suggested it could be safe and effective. The candidate for the second vaccine from the firm will also show encouraging results in a clinical trial.

The experimental shot, produced by a CNBG unit based in Beijing, has induced high-level antibodies in all the inoculated participants in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial involving 1,120 healthy people, CNBG posted on a social website, without disclosing precise readings, as per the preliminary data from the trial.

Making China a major front-runner to develop a vaccine for the deadly coronavirus, the Chinese companies, and researchers have been permitted to do testing on eight candidates at home and abroad.

Earlier, CNBG said that another vaccine candidate developed by its Wuhan unit also safely activated high-level antibodies on the basis of preliminary results in clinical trial participants.

A vaccine will prove its efficacy in the human “Phase 3” test in which thousands of participants are recruited in order to be approved for sale.

On Tuesday, without specifying which shot to be tested, CNBG said it will run a Phased 3 for its vaccine candidate in the United Arab Emirates.