CRI听力:China's Vaccine for Hepatitis E to be Available Soon

The hepatitis E virus shares similar symptoms with hepatitis A, both of which cause victims to suffer from anorexia, vomiting and nausea. In China, the incidence rate of hepatitis E has increased notably, becoming the most common among all types of the hepatitis virus to infect adults.

Recently, a team of researchers in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian Province, announced that they have successfully developed the world's first hepatitis E vaccine. With each injection only costing a few hundred yuan, Gao Yongzhong, general manager of Xiamen Innovax Biotech Co. Ltd, emphasizes the cheapness of the injection compared to the alternative of spending as much as 20,000 yuan on medical treatment once someone has become infected.

"In the past, people infected with hepatitis E had to receive medical treatment that would usually cost them around 20,000 yuan. But a vaccine that costs several hundred yuan will help to prevent you against infection. It is a product that has a good performance but a relatively low price."

Alongside Gao Yongzhong's company, a team of researchers from Xiamen University worked for 14 years developing the vaccine. China's Ministry of Science and Technology began to sponsor the research in 2005 under the government-funded 863 program, a high-tech development initiative.

Last December, the vaccine was granted an official approval for medical production, and is expected to go into mass production this June. The ministry says China will vaccinate those deemed to be at high risk of becoming infected and will work with international organizations to introduce it to other countries.

According to the World Health Organization, one third of the global population is estimated to be infected by the virus and countries in South and East Asia report about 6.5 million cases of infection every year.

The Xiamen Innovax Biotech company, located in the Haicang District of Xiamen, has been given high priority in the development of the local biopharmaceutical industry. As deputy head of the Haicang District, Zhang Quan explains that their goal is to develop the region's biopharmaceutical industry into a large national base for bio-medicine with funds in place somewhere in the region of 200 million yuan.

"We are increasing our efforts for the construction of a special development area for biopharmaceutical enterprises. We shall continue to increase funds and the amount of technical assistance that will be offered to biopharmaceutical enterprises. We have a target in mind; to build the district into a large, active, national-level biopharmaceutical industrial base with a high level of professionalism.

For CRI, I'm Wang Jing.