(Yicai Global) Aug. 20 -- China National Pharmaceutical Group will kick off phase-three clinical trials of its inactivated Covid-19 vaccine candidate in Peru after doing so in the United Arab Emirates in June.

Local health authorities have given the Chinese firm, better known as Sinopharm, a permit for the tests, the Beijing-based firm said in a statement on Sina Weibo today.

Sinopharm expects to bring its first inactivated coronavirus vaccine to market by the end of this year, pricing the necessary two doses at less than CNY1,000 (USD144) in total, Chairman Liu Jingzhen said earlier this month.

Editor: Emmi Laine