CLINICAL TRIALS

Second Chinese COVID-19 vaccine candidate gets clearance from Philippine experts panel

Another Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccine has secured approval from the Philippines' Vaccine Expert Panel (VEP) for the conduct of clinical trials, an official said Friday.

Dr. Jaime Montoya of the Philippine Council for Health Research said China's Clover Biopharma was cleared by the VEP last November 20, making it the second Chinese firm to do so after Sinovac.

“The candidate vaccine already passed the VEP review and it is already under review by the Ethics Board,” Montoya said in an online forum.

“Iyong sa Ethics Board, ang alam ko minor information na lang ang hinahanap pa nila. Kaya puwede na magsimula ang clinical trial at the earliest by late December or early January,” he added.

After hurdling the VEP and the Ethics Board, firms with candidate COVID-19 vaccines would still have to get the approval of the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before they can proceed with the clinical trials in the country.

The same process of securing clearance from VEP, Ethics Board and Philippine FDA will be implemented for manufacturers that intend to sell their COVID-19 vaccines in the Philippines, even if these vaccines already secured approval from regulatory agencies abroad.

Sinovac was cleared by the VEP last October 15.

The frontrunners in the COVID-19 vaccine race, however, were those manufactured by American firms Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna since their candidate COVID-19 vaccines were found to be at least 94% effective after human trials.

The vaccine developed by British drugmaker AstraZeneca with Oxford University was also found 70% effective after the first half dose and 90% in the second full dose  after human trials.

AstraZeneca-Oxford's candidate COVID-19 vaccine is cheaper than those made by American firms mainly because it does not require ultra-low freezer of -70 degrees Celsius for storage. —KBK, GMA News