A health worker shows a dose of Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine from China at a vaccination center in the Jordanian capital Amman, on January 13, 2021.
Khalil Mazraawi | AFP | Getty Images
BEIJING – Sinopharm, a state giant in the development of China’s coronavirus vaccine, announced that its president left the board on Tuesday.
The company cited personal reasons for Li Zhiming’s resignation, according to a file for the Hong Kong-listed company. Li Hui, director and member of the audit committee of Sinopharm subsidiary, China National Medicines Corp., also resigned on Tuesday for personal reasons, a separate file was revealed.
In late December, Chinese authorities approved a vaccine developed by a Beijing-based Sinopharm subsidiary for general launch. The company said the vaccine was 79.34% effective after a phase three test, according to state media.
In early December, the United Arab Emirates said the vaccine was 86% effective.
There was no direct indication that the resignations came as a result of work related to the vaccine. The company did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for email comments.
Different countries have published different results about the effectiveness of a coronavirus vaccine from another Chinese company, Sinovac.
A WHO team is working with Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers at Chinese pharmaceutical companies Sinovac and Sinopharm “to assess compliance with international quality manufacturing practices before listing the potential emergency use by the WHO,” she said earlier. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. .