China's Clover applies for Philippines COVID-19 vaccine trial

MANILA: Clover Biopharmaceuticals is seeking to conduct late-stage clinical trials in the Philippines of its coronavirus vaccine, the country’s foods and drugs agency chief said on Friday.

Clover is the second Chinese developer to apply for Phase 3 clinical trials in the Philippines following Sinovac Biotech, which is seeking to begin trials of its vaccine as early as next month.

Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) head Rolando Enrique Domingo told reporters Clover’s COVID-19 vaccine would first be evaluated by an expert panel before it could proceed to the next stage of the approval process.

The Philippines is also evaluating COVID-19 vaccines of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen and Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute for late-stage trials.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has said he preferred that his country source its COVID-19 vaccines from either China or Russia.

He also said he wanted the entire population vaccinated, with priority given to the poor and the country’s security forces.

The Philippines has recorded 376,935 coronavirus cases and 7,147 COVID-19 deaths as of Thursday, the second highest in Southeast Asia.