Beijing-based China National Biotec Group Co. was awarded approval on Tuesday to conduct Phase III trials for its Covid-19 vaccines in the Middle Eastern country, the company said in a statement posted on its official WeChat account.

CNBG said it will partner with Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence and cloud computing firm G42 to carry out the trial and local production of the vaccine. It didn’t disclose details such as the timing or the number of people it plans to enroll for testing.

The world’s fast-developing vaccine programs are moving into the final stage of testing before they are approved for innoculation for the general public. Pharmaceutical companies across the globe are racing to be first to find an effective shot against the novel coronavirus, which has infected more than 9.2 million people and killed over 476,000.