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When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced last month that Canada would soon be holding human trials of a new COVID-19 vaccine, there was a lot of excitement, and some confusion.
The developer of the would-be vaccine was a Chinese company called CanSino Biologics, hardly a household name in the pharmaceutical industry.
But not only is CanSino a leader in the international race to find a preventive solution to the pandemic — working alonside the Chinese military’s medical-science division — it has surprisingly deep roots in this country.
The vaccine is based on a cell line developed by the National Research Council. The company has worked with the NRC previously on an Ebola vaccine, and with scientists at the council and McMaster University on a tuberculosis shot. More recently, it partnered with a Vancouver-based bio technology company that came up with its own COVID-19 vaccine candidate.