The Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center’s COVID-19 vaccine research and development has secured a supply of centrifuge equipment guaranteed by Lu Xiangyi.

       Good news! Another 16 adult cases of novel coronavirus pneumonia in Shanghai have been discharged this morning, following careful diagnosis and care by medical staff at designated medical institutions and assessment by an expert panel. These patients meet the latest criteria set forth by the National Health Commission for lifting isolation and discharging confirmed COVID-19 cases. To date, Shanghai has a cumulative total of 140 discharged patients, accounting for over 40% of the city’s total confirmed cases. “I’m on the front line—please rest assured!” — This is a tribute to Li Feng, Director of the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine at the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center.

On February 14, Shanghai Luxiangyi Centrifuge Instrument Co., Ltd. urgently supplied a batch of floor-standing high-speed refrigerated centrifuge equipment to the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, ensuring the smooth operation of the equipment during the epidemic prevention period and the successful advancement of targeted COVID-19 vaccine development.

The Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center has urgently supplied a batch of floor-standing high-speed refrigerated centrifuges.

The rapid COVID-19 vaccine has three advantages.

Traditional vaccine development has always been based on the principle of isolating and inactivating viruses. Although this technology is relatively mature, it still carries certain risks in terms of both efficacy and safety. Researcher Xu Jianqing, director of the Institute for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases at the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, explained that this new vaccine uses human-derived cells as a vector, expressing viral membrane proteins on the surface of human cell membranes. Specifically, the S protein of the novel coronavirus is inserted into these human cells, preserving the effective antigenic targets that elicit an immune response against the virus while eliminating the virus’s pathogenicity itself. As a result, the vaccine is fast-acting, safe, and highly efficient. “Perhaps in just a week or two, I’ll be able to volunteer and receive the preliminary, fully developed vaccine that we’ve created,” Xu Jianqing told reporters with great anticipation. Currently, the vaccine is undergoing preclinical trials in primates and could enter clinical trials at any time. The small-scale and pilot-scale production phase is expected to take about three to four weeks. Once the downstream industrial platform—including large-scale production facilities, manufacturing processes, and product quality-control systems—is established, mass production can be rapidly scaled up.

The Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center has urgently supplied a batch of floor-standing high-speed refrigerated centrifuges.

Fighting the virus requires racing against time.

Recognizing the virus and subsequently developing a vaccine requires racing against time. Why has the pace of vaccine development this time been faster than usual? Zhu Tongyu attributes this, first and foremost, to advanced technological preparedness. It is reported that, as the only designated hospital in Shanghai specializing in the treatment of adult COVID-19 patients, this center was the world’s first institution to decode the complete genome sequence of the novel coronavirus and publicly release it during this outbreak. Professor Zhang Yongzhen, director of the East China Pathogen Discovery and Research Center at this center, was among the earliest researchers to participate in the isolation and identification of the pathogen, and on January 10, he released the virus’s full genome sequence—giving the center a crucial head start in the race to develop an immediate vaccine.

Xu Jianqing explained, “The ideal vaccine would not only protect against the existing coronavirus but also effectively control other novel coronaviruses that may emerge in the future—including those found in bats. If such a vaccine were to become available, it would mean that in the future, even if new coronaviruses were to jump to humans, we’d actually be able to bring them under control. This represents another key focus of our public health center’s research and development efforts.”

It is reported that the center has also simultaneously launched research and development of an innovative gene-engineered vaccine. “This is what we often refer to as a nanoparticle vaccine,” explained Xu Jianqing. “By assembling viral membrane proteins into nanoparticles, we can ensure both speed and safety—though it may take a bit longer.”

The Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center has urgently supplied a batch of floor-standing high-speed refrigerated centrifuges.

The development of vaccines requires reliable scientific instruments.

Meanwhile, both the detection and diagnosis of the novel coronavirus require reliable and precise scientific instruments, reagents, and testing methods to ensure accuracy and reliability. The development of superior instrument performance and advanced testing methodologies would not be possible without the joint efforts of instrument manufacturers. As a Shanghai-based centrifuge manufacturer, Shanghai Luxiangyi Centrifuge Instrument Co., Ltd. has equipped its machines with all-in-one sealing rings made of food-grade silicone rubber, which comply with GMP certification. These silicone-rubber sealing rings are odorless, non-toxic, resistant to high temperatures, and capable of withstanding extreme cold. During laboratory experiments, they effectively prevent cross-contamination, ensuring that virus-related and epidemic-related test data are as accurate and reliable as possible. Bearing its due social responsibility, Luxiangyi Centrifuge is fully committed to supporting and cooperating in the ongoing epidemic prevention and control efforts as well as in the targeted vaccine research and development.