The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Solidarity Vaccines Trial (SVT) has yet to start in the country, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has disclosed.
DOST Undersecretary for Research and Development (R&D) Dr. Rowena Cristina L. Guevara, who heads the Task Group on Vaccine Evaluation and Selection (TG-VES), said there is no definite schedule yet as to when the SVT will be conducted in the country.
“To date, the study is still awaiting the go signal from WHO for the official start of the trial. Nonetheless, the Philippine team is continuously preparing all the identified sites and trial staff involved for the actual clinical trial proper,” she said in an interview with the Manila Bulletin.
She said around 15,000 eligible participants are targeted to participate in the SVT.
Guevara noted that recruitment will be conducted in 20 identified hospital and community-based sites across the National Capital Region (NCR).
“Moreover, the possibilities of expanding the trial sites on the different regions will be based on the WHO and DOH (Department of Health) Epidemiology Bureau’s monitoring and analyses of COVID-19 high attack rates.”
The DOST official said serving as lead investigators of the trial are Dr. Jodor A. Lim and Dr. Marissa M. Alejandria from the University of the Philippines Manila - Philippine General Hospital (PGH).
Guevara said the completion of the SVT will be dependent on the pace of recruitment in the country, adding that “the target is to complete recruitment within three months of the official global launch."
After recruitment, follow-up of participants for six to 18 months will be done, she said.
“The complete clinical trials results are expected to be released once the follow-up of the participants has been completed. Follow-up may take six months up to 18 months. However, interim results on the safety and efficacy of candidate vaccines may be released by WHO at an earlier period based on the WHO Core Protocol,” she said.
DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III and WHO Chief Scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan had signed a letter of agreement for the conduct of SVT in the country.
The Philippines’ participation in the WHO SVT was approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) through its Resolution No. 47.
The WHO’s SVT has a project duration of 18 months and is funded by the Philippine government through DOST and DOH.