Six candidate vaccines may undergo trials in PH, FDA says

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 29) — The Food and Drug Administration said six candidate vaccines for COVID-19 may be up for clinical trials in the country.

FDA Director General Eric Domingo announced this on Wednesday, citing a report by the Department of Science and Technology. He also said the vaccine developers are now preparing for their application to conduct the clinical trials in the country.

“Kapag natapos ang clinical trials phase 3 within the next two to three months then maari pagkatapos noon ay actual registration at magpapa-lisensya na itong mga bakunang ito,” Domingo said.

[Translation: After the completion of clinical trials phase 3 within the next two to three months then they can be registered and be granted license.]

The FDA is in charge of regulating clinical trials being conducted in the country, which will be later on registered with the agency if approved. This will also benefit the country in terms of securing vaccine supply in the future in case any of these vaccines are approved, he said.

Domingo also said that based on their latest meeting with the World Health Organization, there are 166 candidate vaccines for COVID-19, and are expected to exceed 200 in the future.

Of this, more than 140 are in the early stages of clinical trials, or are being tested on animals and small groups of people, while all others are undergoing clinical trials in various phases.

Domingo also warned the public on fake COVID-19 vaccines being sold in the market.

“Ang pag-develop ng bakuna para sa COVID-19 binabantayan ng buong mundo… kaya bawat bakuna alam natin kung nasaang stage na ng development at sa ngayon wala pang aprubadong bakuna,” he said.

[Translation: The development of a COVID-19 vaccine is being monitored by the whole world… that is why we know what stages of development these vaccines are in and currently there is still no approved vaccine.]

The Philippines is currently gearing up to join the WHO Solidarity Trial. The Inter-agency Task Force for COVID-19 also approved trials with five vaccine developers, three of which are based in China.