China has granted its first COVID-19 vaccine patent to the adenovirus vector vaccine developed by Chen Wei of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences and Chinese biotech company CanSino Biologics, according to the National Intellectual Property Administration.

The vaccine, dubbed "Ad5-nCoV", uses a weakened common cold virus to introduce genetic material from the novel coronavirus into the human body. The goal is to train the body to produce antibodies that recognize the coronaviruss spike protein and fight it off.

The phase-three clinical trial, which will include more participants and be conducted overseas, is currently in the pipeline.