By Raadee Sausa September 21, 2020 Eduardo Janairo, Department of Health (DOH) dir...
September 21, 2020
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| Eduardo Janairo, Department of Health (DOH) director for Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) |
At least two manufacturers of potential new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines recently submitted their applications to the government to carry out independent clinical trials in Cavite province, the Health department said.
Eduardo Janairo, Department of Health (DOH) director for Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), admitted that the government was likely to prioritize the rollout of the World Health Organization (WHO) Solidarity trial, a global effort to identify a viable cure for COVID-19 among “more than a hundred” candidates, over independent trials by pharmaceutical companies.
The DOH recently announced that the WHO trials, in which the Philippines is participating, might start in October.
But this did not stop private proponents from seeking government approval, “that one or two [manufacturers] supposedly submitted [their applications] to the [Food and Drug Administration or FDA] on September 16,” the health official said.
For her part, Haydee Sy, De La Salle director for institutional communications, said a third company was actually already in the stage “of completing additional requirements by the FDA.”
Sy declined to disclose the names of the candidate vaccines or their pharmaceutical companies but said they were from “reputable” manufacturers.
Moreover, Gov. Jonvic Remulla, earlier, said that close to 10,000 Cavite residents would have participated in the trials of the vaccines that were being manufactured by pharmaceutical firms based in the United States and the United Kingdom starting this month.
But Sy and the DOH said they could not proceed without the FDA permits.
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