In this undated photo, an employee handles trial vaccine samples at a COVID-19 vaccine production base of Sinopharm in Beijing. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

The world's first inactivated vaccine developed by a Chinese company to fight the novel coronavirus will carry out its phase-3 clinical trial in the United Arab Emirates.

China National Biotech Group Co Ltd (CNBG), Sinopharm's vaccine and bioscience unit, held a videoconference connecting Beijing, Wuhan and Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for the launch of the trial.

Since China has few confirmed COVID-19 cases, it could not meet the conditions for the phase-3 trial of the vaccine's safety and efficacy on a large scale, therefore CNBG sought overseas cooperation

The UAE health ministry granted the approval document for the clinical trial during the video conference.

Since China has few confirmed COVID-19 cases, it could not meet the conditions for the phase-3 trial of the vaccine's safety and efficacy on a large scale, therefore CNBG sought overseas cooperation.

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On June 16, CNBG announced the phase-1 and phase-2 clinical trials of its inactivated vaccine had demonstrated good performance in safety and effectiveness on vaccinated volunteers. No subjects showed serious adverse reactions, the company said.

The company said a total of 1,120 volunteers were vaccinated during the phase-1 and phase-2 clinical trials, all of whom produced high-tier antibodies. In the 18-to-59-year-old age group, those who got two doses of vaccine based on the 0-and-28-day procedure demonstrated 100 percent antibody positive conversion rate, while those who got two doses based on the 0-and-14-day and 0-and-21-day procedures showed 97.6 percent antibody positive conversion rates.

READ MORE: Rapid progress made in COVID-19 vaccine trials