Chinese COVID-19 vaccine step closer to Philippine clinical trials

October 15, 2020

Chinese pharmaceutical company, Sinovac Biotech Ltd., is close to conducting Phase III of its clinical trials in the Philippines for its candidate vaccine for coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

In a virtual press forum, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director General Enrique Domingo said Sinovac's vaccine has been approved by the Vaccine Experts Panel (VEP) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

"We have been advised by the VEP that the (Sinovac) vaccine has passed their evaluation," said Domingo.

He said Sinovac's vaccine and its clinical trial protocols must pass the Single Joint Research Ethics Board (SJREB) of the Department of Health (DOH).

"The parallel evaluation of the Ethics Board, I believe, is still in progress. It is necessary for any study to also have the approval of the Ethics Board," said Domingo.

Once the VEP and Ethics Board endorse the Chinese vaccine, Domingo said Sinovac apply to conduct a clinical trial.

"We haven't seen the application yet so we don't know the details and it's really a matter of when the submission is given to the FDA. It is possible that they will submit their application next week or two weeks from now," he said.  DMS