MANILA, Philippines — Belgian drugmaker Janssen Pharmaceutica has begun the clinical trial for its COVID-19 vaccine in the Philippines, the Department of Science and Technology said Friday.
“Janssen has already started the clinical trial proper, which covers patient screening, recruitment and vaccination,” DOST Undersecretary Rowena Guevara said in a briefing.
Guevara did not disclose the specifics of the trial, such as the date when the study commenced and the barangays where the trials are held because only the vaccine developer can do this. But the DOST official said the sites of the Janssen trial are in Metro Manila.
The country’s Food and Drug Administration approved the application of Janssen to local conduct clinical trials in December last year.
Clinical trials showed that a single dose of the Janssen vaccine had an efficacy rate of up to 72%. It was developed by Janssen Pharmaceutica, a Belgium-based division of Johnson & Johnson.
The vaccine leverages the company’s AdVac platform, which was also used to develop and manufacture Ebola vaccine regimen and construct its Zika, RSV and HIV investigational vaccine candidates.
The Janssen COVID-19 shot can be refrigerated for up to three months at 2 to 8°C, which is the standard temperature that is within the existing cold chain system in the country.
Meanwhile, Chinese firms Clover Biopharmaceuticals and Sinovac are still preparing the sites for their studies.
The Philippine FDA so far approved the Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca vaccines for emergency use.
The government's vaccination program has yet to commence, despite promises from officials that the inoculation will start in February. Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez said indemnification requirements caused the delay of the arrival of COVID-19 shots from the COVAX facility.
The government has been also criticized for its slow pace in securing highly coveted vaccine shots. It aims to vaccinate at least 50 million Filipinos this year alone.
To date, the Philippines has over 555,000 cases, with 11,673 deaths.