GUANGZHOU -- A recombinant COVID-19 fusion protein vaccine (V-01) developed and manufactured in China has been approved for phase-III clinical trials in the Philippines.

The vaccine V-01 was developed by the Institute of Biophysics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Livzon Pharmaceutical Group Inc (LivzonBio) in South China's Guangdong province.

V-01 is a fusion recombinant protein vaccine with the receptor-binding domain (RBD) as the antigen, which is the most important part of the virus spike protein binding with human cellular ACE2 receptors. The binding process grants the virus access to the host's cells and leads to infection.

The Food and Drug Administration of the Philippines had granted approval for the phase-III clinical trial of the V-01 vaccine to evaluate its safety and efficacy. The trial has started recruiting participants in adults aged 18 and older in the country. The first participant was enrolled on Aug 25 and inoculated with the first dose.

Hu Zhenxiang, vice president of LivzonBio, told Xinhua that the phase-I and phase-II trials of V-01 vaccine had produced satisfactory results.