DOH: Sinovac trials in PH to push through, vaccine to be tested in a ‘specific population’

MANILA, Philippines  — CoronaVac, the Covid-19 vaccine candidate of China’s Sinovac Biotech, will be used in a specific sector of the Philippine population during its clinical trials here in the country, the  Department of Health (DOH) said Wednesday.

The DOH said this as it announced that Sinovac’s late-stage trials will push through even as it is already applying for an emergency use authorization (EUA) in the country.

“Ang intensyon natin kaya gusto nating matuloy iyan kahit na nag-aaply na siya ng EUA because we want to try it in this specific population para makita natin ang epekto niya among us, Asians and this specific population,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an online press briefing.

Vergeire, however, did not disclose the sector that they are eyeing to be tested with the Sinovac vaccine.

Sinovac has conducted Phase 3 clinical trials in Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil, and China with efficacy results ranging from 50.4% to 90%.

The government has already secured 25 million doses of CoronaVac, with the first 50,000 doses arriving by February.  But actual inoculation using the vaccine remains uncertain as the Chinese firm has yet to secure an EUA before the Philippines’ Food and Drug Administration.

Aside from Sinovac, Belgium-based Janssen Pharmaceuticals and another Chinese firm Clover Biopharmaceuticals will conduct clinical trials in the Philippines for their respective vaccines.

/MUF