Pharma firms urged to bring bird flu vaccines to PH

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is calling on pharmaceutical firms to bring to the country vaccines against avian influenza, or bird flu, to prevent the reemergence of an outbreak of the zoonotic disease.

According to the FDA, there has been no application for certificate of product registration (CPR) for the manufacture, sale, importation or distribution of avian influenza vaccines. A CPR is a license issued by the FDA for the commercial distribution and sale of a medical device.

This prompted the FDA to recently form Task Force Alectryon, the name which was derived from the Ancient Greek word for “rooster,” tasked with streamlining the evaluation of applications for bird flu drugs and vaccines that are “safe, efficacious and of good quality.”

“To tackle the ongoing challenges posed by HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza), a proactive approach is essential for effective management of virus spread and its impact,” the FDA said in a statement on Thursday.

“This approach involves implementing preventive measures and control strategies, with vaccination playing a crucial role among other strategies,” it added.

In 2017, the Philippines confirmed its first case of HPAI. Many of the provinces hit by the outbreak had since been declared free from bird flu, the latest being Maguindanao del Sur and Isabela this month.

“Despite successfully managing the epidemic, the continuous threat of reemergence persists,” the FDA noted.

Just last month, the Department of Agriculture released guidelines on the targeted vaccination as a “complementary tool” in the containment of the avian influenza. INQ