WHO-led clinical trial of Medigen COVID-19 vaccine to be unblinded
02/15/2022 10:07 PM
We will hear about Inovio much sooner than we thought.
Taipei, Feb. 15 (CNA) The Taiwanese vaccine maker, Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp., said Tuesday that a World Health Organization-led (WHO) clinical trial of its COVID-19 vaccine could be unblinded in March at the earliest.
The Medigen COVID-19 vaccine, a protein subunit vaccine, is currently being tested under the WHO's Phase 3 Solidarity Trial Vaccines program.
At a press conference, the Taiwanese company's Vice Chairman and CEO Charles Chen (???) said that unblinding of the clinical trial could take place as early as the end of March and would determine whether the WHO recommends the Medigen vaccine for use against COVID-19.
According to the WHO, research teams in Colombia, Mali, and the Philippines began recruiting volunteers for the Solidarity Trial Vaccines, which aims to "rapidly evaluate the efficacy and safety of promising new candidate vaccines against COVID-19," in late September 2021.
As of Dec. 22, 2021, over 11,500 people had registered to take part in the project, WHO data showed.
Chen said the validation of the Medigen vaccine following the clinical trial would further enhance the company's collaboration with the WHO, which has been working to make more vaccines available and accessible through its global vaccine sharing initiative, COVAX.
The WHO has so far issued an emergency use listing for 10 COVID-19 vaccines.
He added that WHO recognition would also facilitate the vaccine brand's expansion in the Central and South American as well as Southeast Asian markets, as it will increase the possibility of the Medigen vaccine being granted emergency use authorization (EUA) by other countries.
Chen noted that the company had planned to supply its vaccine globally, and that it would aim to produce up to 100 million doses by the end of this year.
Meanwhile, Taiwan's Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung (???) said at a press briefing Tuesday that the government is considering donating part of its stock of approximately 3 million Medigen doses to other countries.
Currently, only Taiwan, Paraguay and the East African territory of Somaliland, have granted EUAs for the Medigen vaccine. In December 2021, Taiwan donated 150,000 Medigen doses to Somaliland to assist the territory in its efforts to combat the pandemic.
