ISTANBUL

Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinopharm's mpox vaccine has been cleared for clinical trials, state media reported on Wednesday.

The vaccine candidate received clearance from the top Chinese drug regulator for clinical trials, representing Beijing's first experimental dose to win the trial approval, China News said on X.

The World Health Organization (WHO) in August declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern after the new clade 1 variant was identified in African countries.​​​​​​​

Most of the cases have been reported in the eastern African nation of DR Congo which recorded over 4,900 confirmed mpox cases and more than 620 deaths since early this year.

From the beginning of mpox monitoring in 2022 until July 31 this year, 102,977 confirmed cases of mpox due to MPXV clade 1 and clade 2, including 219 fatalities, have been reported by 121 countries globally, according to the WHO.