Japanese pharmaceutical firm Shionogi & Co. said Tuesday it will file a request with Japan’s health ministry for approval of its novel coronavirus vaccine by the end of this year. The Osaka-based company, which is among makers engaged in homegrown vaccine development, initially aimed to apply in September but delayed the step as it is still in the final stage of gathering clinical trial data. Shionogi said it still has to compare its results with the vaccine developed by Britain’s AstraZeneca Plc before applying. According to Shionogi, the vaccine has a high amount of neutralizing antibodies t…