The company's vaccine plans involving such technology transfer and localized production cooperation mainly include those for hepatitis A, polio, influenza and COVID-19.

该公司涉及此类技术转让和本地化生产合作的疫苗计划主要包括针对甲型肝炎、脊髓灰质炎、流感和新冠肺炎的疫苗计划。

When influenza vaccination rates among school-age children in Shenzhen participating in the study increased from 42 percent to 76 percent, the vaccine could be an effective measure to slash the financial burden of hospitalization by 107 million yuan ($15.53 million).

当参与这项研究的深圳学龄儿童的流感疫苗接种率从42%提高到76%时，该疫苗可能是一项有效措施，可以减少1.07亿元（1553万美元）的住院经济负担。

Sinovac Biotech Ltd, a biopharmaceutical product provider in China, announced on Tuesday that a phase-3 clinical trial for its inactivated quadrivalent influenza vaccine was initiated in the Republic of Chile.

中国生物制药产品供应商科兴生物技术有限公司周二宣布，其四价流感灭活疫苗的三期临床试验已在智利共和国启动。

The clinical trial aims to evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of the quadrivalent influenza vaccine among individuals aged 3-year-old and above.

该临床试验旨在评估四价流感疫苗在3岁及以上人群中的免疫原性和安全性。

Half of them will receive one or two doses of the Sinovac vaccine, while the other half will receive a different quadrivalent influenza vaccine commercially available in Chile.

其中一半将接种一剂或两剂科兴疫苗，另一半将接种在智利上市的不同四价流感疫苗。

The study results are expected to provide further scientific evidence on the efficacy and safety of the company’s quadrivalent influenza vaccine to promote its worldwide use, Sinovac said.

科兴表示，该研究结果有望为该公司四价流感疫苗的有效性和安全性提供进一步的科学证据，以促进其在全球范围内的使用。

The quadrivalent influenza vaccine has been approved in China since June 2020. liuzhihua@chinadaily.

四价流感疫苗已于2020年6月在中国获批。liuzhihua@chinadaily.

Clover has also initiated development of additional vaccine programs including multivalent SARS-CoV-2 (covering multiple variants), rabies and influenza.

A kit that can test the novel coronavirus and the influenza virus at the same time and produce results in 30 minutes will be submitted for approval early next month, Shao said.

At present, the platform has launched HPV, influenza and herpes zoster vaccination services.

As a third-time participant of the CIIE, Roche is showcasing a wide array of innovative products and therapies covering major diseases such as cancer immunotherapy, hematologic tumors, influenza and rare diseases.

Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche has submitted approval application of an innovative influenza therapy to the Chinese drug authority, announced the company on Friday during the ongoing China International Import Expo.

The therapy, the first and only single-dose oral drug approved for the treatment of influenza and the first anti-influenza drug approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration, is also being showcased at the expo.

The company's data showed that if a close contact of a flu patient takes the drug, the risk of him or her getting infected with influenza drops by 86 percent.

Yiling Pharma announced in May its Lianhuaqingwen capsules had been officially listed as Chinese proprietary medicine to treat influenza by the Healthy Sciences Authority of Singapore, which meant the Chinese medicine has been granted local market access.

According to the company, currently, the influenza case collection of the phase-II studies of Lianhuaqingwen capsules in the US has been completed, and its registration in countries and regions in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America has started.

The study of the effectiveness of Lianhuaqingwen capsules in treating influenza had won the second prize in the National Award for Progress in Science and Technology in 2011, demonstrating its advantage in research and development.

The capsule, a traditional Chinese medicine used in the treatment of influenza, has been approved for sale as a medicine, food supplement or natural health product in a dozen countries and regions, including Brazil, Romania, Thailand and Ecuador.

Wang Junzhi, an academic at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said China has laid a solid foundation to research inactivated vaccines in recent years, and inactivated vaccines have been widely used to fight hepatitis A, influenza, poliomyelitis, and hand, foot and mouth disease.

Switzerland-based Roche signed a strategic collaboration with the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone in Hainan province during the CIIE on Wednesday to introduce a series of innovative drugs, including the first novel proposed mechanism to treat influenza approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration in nearly two decades, in the zone.

China's leading online healthcare platform DXY announced on Monday it is establishing a "China Influenza Prevention and Service Cloud Center" to leverage internet tools and big data technology for influenza prevention and control.

Data analysis co-conducted by the Chinese CDC and DXY revealed there is a positive correlation between the flu epidemic and doctors' research and learning behaviors online, providing a new idea for the prevention of influenza according to Qi Xiaopeng, deputy director of the global public health center of the Chinese CDC.

Data analysis also showed specific online research and learning behavior modes of doctors with varying expertise levels, in different disease departments and levels of hospitals during an influenza epidemic, which provides guidance for precise information service and educational tools to doctors.

With internet tools and big data technology used to analyze activity on DXY's medical academic and patient education platforms, the center aims to make surveillance of influenza more timely, comprehensive and accurate as a complement to the national infectious disease surveillance system, said Li Tiantian, founder of DXY.

"A review of history shows that crises have never been absent for China and ASEAN, be it the Asian financial crisis, the international financial crisis, SARS or H5N1 influenza.

While influenza cases are currently at high levels, Liu Tonghua, former deputy president of the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, said that it is possible that people will see repeated infections of one or multiple pathogens simultaneously.

Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche — maker of innovative influenza drug Xofluza — said it has mobilized overseas supply chain resources to ensure stable quantities of the product in China, following a recent demand surge from both hospitals and pharmacies.

As influenza viruses spread, vaccine makers in China are speeding up efforts to guarantee supply, in order to safeguard citizens during the ongoing flu outbreak.

The country reported 420 influenza outbreaks from Nov 27 to Dec 3, a more than 4,100 percent surge from last year during the same period, said the Chinese National Influenza Center.

To tackle the problem, Sinovac said it offers the simultaneous administration of quadrivalent influenza split virion vaccine and 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine for adults aged 60 years and older, enhancing protection for the elderly.

While influenza and rhinovirus are the most prevalent among toddlers aged 1 to 4, for children aged 5 to 14, influenza, mycoplasma pneumoniae and adenovirus are common infections, Wang Huaqing, chief immunization planning expert at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a recent news conference.

Adults below the age of 60 are also susceptible to rhinovirus and COVID-19 infections, while the elderly are prone to getting infected with human metapneumovirus, which causes symptoms similar to influenza, as well as regular coronaviruses, he said.

During the recovery process, high incidence rates of influenza are a common phenomenon, resulting in surging demand for vaccines.

Data from the Chinese National Influenza Center show that the positivity rate of influenza across China continued to rise from Nov 27 to Dec 3.

The country reported 420 influenza outbreaks during the period, compared with 401 for the previous seven days.

On e-commerce delivery platforms, "type A influenza diagnostic kits" and "pneumonia-related diagnostic kits" have been selling fast.

These kits target several viruses — type A influenza virus, type B influenza virus, mycoplasma pneumonia virus and adenovirus.

BGI Genomics, an integrated solutions provider of precision medicine based in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, said demand for respiratory tract specimen testing has increased amid the ongoing influenza outbreak.

The point-of-care testing-based polymerase chain reaction technique detects 18 types of respiratory microbes, including type A and type B influenza viruses, adenovirus, rhinovirus, respiratory syncytial virus and others, all at once.

"There is high incidence of influenza, and many citizens with increased awareness about self-protection are actively purchasing various cold medicines for emergencies.

According to data from financial service provider Wind Info, the influenza index surged by 10.89 percent from Oct 27 to Nov 27.

"In recent years, the infection rates of influenza abroad, such as type A influenza and type B influenza, have been much higher than that before COVID-19.

Currently, apart from the COVID-19 vaccine and hepatitis-A vaccine, Sinovac owns Enterovirus Type 71 vaccine, which prevents hand-foot-mouth disease, combined hepatitis-A and B vaccine, H5N1 influenza vaccine, among others.

It also launched HPV, influenza and shingles vaccination services.

Meanwhile, about 85 percent of companies related to veterinary drugs had also resumed production by Monday, while all manufacturers of vaccines for the highly pathogenic avian influenza and foot-and-mouth disease are operating, according to Wei.

Based on an agreement with the Shenzhen municipal government, the company even wants to turn Shenzhen into a hub to explore a new model for accelerating the launch of globally leading vaccines, improve the influenza vaccination rate, employ big data to establish a vaccination evaluation system, and delve more deeply into relevant research.

One path being pursued is disease prevention, especially those that are contagious like influenza or linked to lifestyle choices such as heart disease and diabetes.

Currently, the AI technology provided by Ping An Technology, the tech arm of Ping An Insurance (Group) Co Ltd, is helping healthcare authorities in Chongqing and Shenzhen, Guangdong province, to predict influenza outbreaks ahead of time with over 90 percent accuracy.

Industry reports noted that avian influenza, price increases of young chickens and changes in consumption habits may have an impact on the sector, and this in turn could cause fluctuations in both revenue and profit.

Based on scientific research, H1N1 influenza virus and coronavirus are both enveloped viruses.

"This suggests that the overall clinical consequences of Covid-19 may ultimately be more akin to those of a severe seasonal influenza, which has a case fatality rate of approximately 0.1 percent, or a pandemic influenza similar to those in 1957 and 1968 rather than to a disease similar to SARS or MERS, which had a case fatality rate of 9-to-10 percent and 36 percent, respectively," said the article.

Aside from vaccine companies, those associated with genetic technology, immunotherapy, generic drugs, cancer treatment, influenza treatment and private hospitals all saw declines.