The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) announced Thursday, Feb. 4, that Janssen Pharmaceuticals is set to start its coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) vaccine clinical trial in the country this week.
DOST Secretary Fortunato dela Peña said Janssen Pharmaceuticals, one of the three vaccine developers that have been approved to conduct their Phase 3 clinical trial in the Philippines, will jumpstart its clinical trial aimed at strengthen its data gathering on the efficacy of its vaccines and at the same, help the government strengthen its fight against coronavirus disease.
"Ine-expect po natin sila ay magsisimula na. Ang nadinig ko pong plano dahil ito ay sila naman ang nag-i-implement , tinutulungan lang natin sila sa pagiidentify ng mg lugar kung san gagaiwn ang trials pero ang mukhang mauuna ay Janssen ay within this week maguumpisa na sila (We expect that they will start. What I heard is that, since they are the ones who are implementing, we just assist them in identifying the areas where the trials will be conducted, but it seems that Janssen will start within this week)," he said during the televised "Laging Handa” briefing.
He noted that Sinovac Biotech, and Clover Pharmaceuticals will also soon start their clinical trials in the country. “Yung iba pa katulad ng Sinovac at itong Clover ay either February or March (The other developers such as Sinovac at Clover, they will start either February or March)," dela Peña said.
The Philippines has signed a Confidentiality Disclosure Agreement (CDA) with at least 12 vaccine developers in relation to the vaccine trial.
The Task Group on Vaccine Evaluation and Selection, chaired by DOST inked CDAs with the following vaccine developers: Janssen, Sinovac Biotech, AstraZeneca, Gamaleya Research Institute, Sinopharm Group, Anhui Zhifei, University of Queensland, Adimmune Corporation, Academia Sinica, Tianyuan Biopharma, Bharat Biotech and CureVac.