By Chris Wack 



  BioNTech SE and Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co. Ltd. said Wednesday  that 72 participants in China have been dosed with BNT162b1 following approval by the Chinese regulatory authority. 


  BioNTech and Fosun Pharma are jointly developing the Covid-19 vaccine candidate in China. The trial is part of BioNTech's global development program. 


  The study is designed to support the regulatory approval process for the Chinese market and intends to confirm that the safety and immunogenicity profile observed in participants from the German and U.S. trials is comparable to that of Chinese participants, the companies said. 


  The Phase 1 clinical trial in China aims to enroll 144 healthy subjects and to confirm dose selection. The participants will be dosed in Taizhou Clinical Phase1 Center, Jiangsu province. 


  During the clinical development stage, BioNTech will provide the clinical supply of the vaccine from its GMP-certified mRNA manufacturing facilities in Europe. If the vaccine receives marketing authorization in China, Fosun Pharma will exclusively commercialize the vaccine in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau Special Administration Regions and in Taiwan. 


  Write to Chris Wack at chris.wack@wsj.com