Chinese Clinical Trial Registry has revealed that Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products (Kangtai), a Chinese company in the biotechnology product manufacturing industry, has begun a mid-stage human trial of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine, Reuters news agency reported on Thursday.

Kangtai's candidate is among more than 10 potential vaccines Chinese scientists have brought into various phases of clinical trials in efforts to counter COVID-19.

According to the latest record published on the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry on 28 October 2020, the company plans to test the vaccine's safety and ability to trigger immune responses in a Phase 2 clinical trial expected to recruit 1,000 participants.

Reportedly, the vaccine candidate uses an inactivated virus that cannot replicate in human cells.

This Phase 2 trial was scheduled to begin on 27 October 2020, according to the registration record, and a person familiar with the matter confirmed to Reuters that the trial has already started.

In addition to developing its own vaccine, Kangtai also has a deal to make and supply mainland China with the vaccine candidate developed by AstraZeneca and researchers at the University of Oxford.