‘Change of mind:’ China-based pharma firm will not join vaccine trials

MANILA, Philippines — Sinopharm, another China-based pharmaceutical company, has changed its mind and said it will no longer be joining clinical trials in the country for a possible coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said.

“One of the six [pharmaceutical companies], the Sinopharm, has made a change of mind. Before, they said they want to provide a supply of vaccines as well as to get involved in the clinical trials phase three in the Philippines but later on they have communicated to us that they are interested in the supply side but they will no longer conduct clinical trials phase three,” DOST Director Fortunato Dela Peña said on Friday in an online press conference of the Department of Health regarding updates on the vaccine trials.

Dela Peña, however, did not disclose further why the Chinese company has made a change of mind.

Meanwhile, Sinovac Biotech, another Chinese vaccine maker, has already passed initial screening for the clinical trials. It will still need the approval of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and ethics research before participating in the trials.

For Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute, Dela Peña said they are still waiting for additional data while the Belgium-based Janssen Pharmaceutical Company signified intention to join the trials but has yet to submit their data to the DOST.

The DOST will lead the clinical trials phase three and will be assisted by government agencies such as the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the FDA.

The DOST is eyeing to conduct the clinical trials by November.

/MUF