Janssen, AstraZeneca, Clover get ethics review board approval — DOH

MANILA, Philippines — Three developers of vaccines against COVID-19 have passed the review of the ethics board, advancing their applications to conduct clinical trials in the country, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.

Belgium’s Janssen Pharmaceutical, United Kingdom’s AstraZeneca, and China’s Clover Biopharmaceuticals have all secured clearance from the Ethical Review Board, said DOH spokesperson Ma. Rosario Vergeire in a forum.

“Approved na rin sa Ethics Review Board ang Janssen, ang AstraZeneca at saka yung Clover. Inaantay na lang po natin lahat na matapos ang mga evaluation nila,” Vergeire said.

(Janssen, AstraZeneca and Clover are all approved by the Ethics Review Board. We are just waiting for them to finish the evaluation.)

The Department of Science and Technology has said Janssen and AstraZeneca may soon get their initial clearance from the vaccine experts panel (VEP).

Meanwhile, China’s Sinovac and Clover already hurdled the VEP.

Vaccine makers need to pass both the VEP and the Ethics Review Board before they could seek the approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the Philippines to conduct clinical trials in the country.

“Kailangan parehong aprubado ng vaccine experts panel at ethics review board bago makapasok sa process ng FDA,” Vergeire said.

(They need to be approved by both the vaccine experts panel and ethics review board before they could reach FDA’s process.)

Vergeire said the FDA is already gathering initial information about the said vaccines to jumpstart their documentary evaluations.

EDV