PH clinical trials up for Russian vaccine, Japanese drug

THE Philippines will meet with the Russian manufacturer of a vaccine being marketed  as a cure for the coronavirus disease for possible clinical trials, in addition to a Japanese drug that will be tested on infected patients in selected hospitals starting this August.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the sub-technical working group on vaccines, led by the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) and the Department of Health (DoH), will meet with Moscow’s Gamaleya Research Institute, manufacturer of the Sputnik-V, for clinical trials in the country once the vaccine is produced. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the vaccine has been approved for use on Tuesday, and President Rodrigo Duterte expressed his willingness to try it once it becomes available.

Vergeire, concurrent DoH spokesman, told a media briefing on Wednesday, however, that Sputnik V was in phase three of vaccine trials in Russia, contrary to Putin’s announcement. 

She also assured that the tests in the country would be subject to stringent regulations by the DoH-Ethics Board and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and  “will undergo our regulatory processes and inclusion and exclusion criteria based on the capacity of the vaccine”.

The DoH also said that the country was in talks with four Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers from China and Taiwan for possible clinical trials.

Vergeire said that 100 patients from the Philippine General Hospital, Sta. Ana Hospital in Manila, Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital in Caloocan, and the Quirino Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City will participate in the trials  for the Japanese anti-flu drug Avigan starting on August 17. 

The DoH confirmed that the Japanese government procured Avigan from manufacturer Fujifilm for the Philippines.

Source: TheManila Times