PHL clinical trial application of China firms Sinovac, Clover BioPharma also pass vaccine evaluation, ethics board review, says DOST
(Eagle News) – The Philippines will start getting the COVID-19 vaccine Sinovac by the first quarter of next year, Malacanang said, even as the Department of Science and Technology announced that another China-based pharmaceutical firm, aside from Sinovac, had also passed evaluation for clinical trials in the country.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that Sinovac Pharmaceuticals from China which produced the vaccine CoronaVac will be ready for use by early next year.
Sinovac Biotech Ltd., is a pharmaceutical company based in Beijing, China.
“Well, so far, ang alam ko po is Sinovac—hindi ko po dala iyong ating timeline pero sa susunod ay dadalhin ko po. Pero ang punto lang is pagdating po ng first quarter, magsismula na rin po tayo ng pagbabakuna,” he said in a recent Palace press briefing.
“The target remains that Sinovac will be the first that we can use to vaccinate our people and it will be in the first quarter of next year,” Roque explained.
Sinovac is also one of two pharmaceutical companies whose application to hold clinical trials in the country has been approved, according to Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Fortunato dela Pena.
Dela Pena said that Clover Biopharmaceuticals, which is also based in China, had also passed approval for COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial, as well as the ethics board on vaccines in the Philippines.
“Iyong mayroon ng approval for both, iyong nagdaan na sa vaccine evaluation at saka iyong ethics ay we have Sinovac (Biotech) and Clover (Biopharmaceuticals)” the DOST chief explained in a Laging Handa press briefing.
He said that two other pharmaceutical companies — Janssen Inc., of Johnson & Johnson, and AstraZeneca, a pharmaceutical company based in the United Kingdom, which has partnered with Oxford to develop a vaccine against COVOD-19
-Janssen, AstraZeneca vaccines awaiting completion of evaluation-
Dela Pena said that while the vaccines by Janssen and Oxford-Astrazeneca have already passed the Philippines’ ethics board, but their evaluation is not yet finished.
“Pero iyong Janssen at AstraZeneca, mayroon na silang ethics clearance, hinihintay na lang natin iyong pagtatapos noong vaccine evaluation,” the DOST chief said.
-Pfizer vaccine also being eyed-
The Philippines is also eyeing to get vaccines developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, which has proven to have more than 90 percent efficacy. But Britain, where the first mass vaccination using the Pfizer vaccine was done, recently issued allergy warnings about the vaccine.
The warning came after two members of the state-run National Health Service who were among the first to receive the vaccine on Tuesday suffered allergic reactions and needed treatment.
NHS England medical director Stephen Powis said both people, who had a history of reactions, were now recovering well.The independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has now advised that “people with a significant history of allergic reactions do not receive this vaccination” as a precaution, he added.
US Ambassador to the Philippines Jose Manuel Romualdez said that the Philippine government has had talks with Pfizer months ago after Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. had talked with US Secretary of States Mike Pompeo about the vaccine acquisition.
The vaccine was said to be 90 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 infections based on th Phase 3 clinical trials, according to an announcement from Pfizer and BioNTech.
Romualdez recalled that it was Pfizer which first approached them months ago. The company had even offered to sell their vaccines to the Philippines at a more affordable price — around $5 per shot — since it considered the Philippines as one of the US’ allies.
-Other COVID-19 vaccine makers offer vaccine use
He said Modernna, another US based pharmaceutical company which had also developed a vaccine against COVID-19, had also offered to provide vaccines to the Philippines
The Philippines has also already signed an agreement with the United Kingdom to secure 2.6 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by AstraZeneca, which will be purchased by top local businessmen for the country.
Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 produced by the Gamaleya Research Center is also among the vaccines being studied for clinical trials in the country.
-Emergency use authorization for vaccines-
On Dec. 1, President Rodrigo Duterte already signed an executive order granting Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for drugs and vaccines for COVID-19 paving the way for the early use of COVID-19 vaccines with proven efficacy and safety.
President Duterte signed Executive Order (EO) No. 121 which authorizes the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to fast-track the procurement and use of drugs and vaccine against COVID-19, especially those which have shown efficacy and safety, so these could already be administered to the public.
FDA Director-General Eric Domingo earlier said that pharmaceutical companies that have applied and are expected to apply for Philippines’ approval for emergency use authorization are Pfizer, Sinovac, Sinopharm, Moderna, and AstraZeneca.
(Eagle News Service)
