KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia has begun a phase 3 clinical trial of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by the Institute of Medical Biology of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (IMBCAMS), the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

The initiative is a collaboration between the governments of Malaysia and China to generate scientific data in the development of the vaccine candidate to evaluate its safety and efficacy against COVID-19 infection, the ministry said in a statement.

The trials will involve nine government hospitals across Malaysia and 3,000 volunteers for a period of 13 months.

In his speech during the virtual launching ceremony, Malaysian Health Minister Adham Baba said Malaysia is very pleased to work with China, through IMBCAMS in contributing to the search for scientific evidence in the development of the inactivated vaccine.

"With strong regulatory, certified researchers and experienced research sites, we are confident of producing quality scientific evidence to support the research vaccine," he said.

"This cooperation will strengthen ties between China and Malaysia. I am very confident that we will have more opportunities to work together in the near future, bringing more positive results not only for both our countries, but also for the world," Adham said.

For his part, Che Yanchun, head of the R&D Department, Chinese Institute of Medical Sciences Academy of Medical Sciences, said Malaysia has been chosen as the first country outside China to participate in this phase 3 clinical trial of the COVID-19 vaccine which would also take place in other countries.

"I sincerely hope the phase 3 clinical trial in Malaysia will be a successful one, and it will fulfill the objectives of the clinical trial, and certainly Malaysia will also get the benefits from this trial," Che said.