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[In Depth] Scandal clouds China's global vaccine ambitions

ScienceNOW - Fetched: April 28th, 2016, 5:00pm UTC

Health experts hail two new Chinese-made vaccines against hand, foot, and mouth disease as a milestone against a malady that has run rampant in China. But that triumph was overshadowed by a safety crisis involving other homegrown vaccines. In recent weeks, police have arrested more than 200 people in connection with the nationwide distribution of 2 million doses of expired Chinese-made vaccines against scourges such as hepatitis B and rabies. No adverse reactions have been confirmed. China's vaccine developers hope the debacle won't derail efforts to make inroads into the global $33 billion vaccine market. But without a major overhaul, China's vaccine system might not recover quickly. Author: Kathleen McLaughlin

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