The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said Friday, May 7, that three more vaccine developers have applied to conduct coronavirus disease (COVID) vaccine clinical trials in the country.
DOST Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara, chief of the Task Group on Vaccine Evaluation and Selection (TG-VES), said the three vaccine developers who expressed intent to conduct clinical trials are all from China.
“Meron ding natanggap na mga bagong applications for clinical trial ang Task Group natin mula sa Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products, West China Hospital and Sichuan University na parehong mula sa China (Our Task Group has received new applications for clinical trial from Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products, West China Hospital and Sichuan University),” she said at the sidelines of DOST Secretary Fortunato “Boy” T. de la Peña’s weekly report on Friday.
She noted that only three vaccine developers were given the green light to conduct their Phase 3 clinical trials in the Philippines. These are Clover Pharmaceuticals, and Sinovac Biotech, both from China, and Janssen Pharmaceuticals.
During a public briefing on April 12, DOST Secretary Fortunato “Boy” T. de la Peña said China’s Sinovac Biotech may not pursue its vaccine clinical trials in the country after its SARS-CoV-2 vaccine Vero Cell Inactivated, or the CoronaVac was granted emergency use authorization (EUA) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
In February, FDA Director General Eric Domingo said after a thorough and rigorous review of the currently available published and unpublished data by the country’s regulatory and medical experts, the FDA has granted EUA to Sinovac’s vaccine.
https://mb.com.ph/2021/02/22/fda-grants-eua-to-sinovac/
In April this year, De la Peña said Belgium-based Janssen Pharmaceuticals already completed its actual trials and is expected to start its data analysis.
Janssen, which is owned by American firm Johnson & Johnson, is the first vaccine developer that secured FDA’s approval to conduct clinical trials in the country on Dec. 28, 2020.
It conducted its clinical trials in February this year.
Meanwhile, China’s Clover Biopharmaceuticals’ recruitment of participants, and actual vaccination trials “are ongoing”, de la Peña had announced.
In late March, Guevara said China’s Clover Biopharmaceuticals has started its vaccine clinical trials in the country.