Germany has sanctioned its first clinical trial of a potential vaccine for the novel coronavirus, the country’s Paul-Ehrlich-Institut (PEI) regulatory body has said.

The authorization is the result of “careful assessment of the potential risk/benefit profile of the vaccine candidate,” the medical institute said in a statement on Wednesday.

The potential vaccine, named BNT162, was developed by German biotech company BioNTech with US pharma giant Pfizer.

The German trial will be conducted on 200 healthy people between the ages of 18 and 55 in its first stage. After an observational waiting period, more volunteers in the same age range will be vaccinated. It will then be trialed on people who are at a higher risk of Covid-19 infection.

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Tests of the BNT162 vaccine are also planned in the US and will begin when regulatory approval for human testing is secured there.

“First clinical trials aim at investigating the general tolerability of vaccine candidates as well as their ability to induce a specific immune response against the pathogen,” the PEI said in the statement.

The German trial is the fourth authorized human clinical trial for a Covid-19 vaccine worldwide. The PEI said it assumes that further trials for a vaccine will begin in Germany in the next few months.

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