KUALA LUMPUR – The Health Ministry is expecting the first phase three clinical trial report from potential Covid-19 vaccine producers as early as next week, Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham said today.
He said there are 12 companies running Phase 3 clinical trial studies, but the government is engaged in negotiations with 10.
Noor Hisham added that the ministry has been informed of a “high chance” that one of the companies would provide the report of the third phase clinical trial next week.
“We are still waiting to read the dossiers, and they should also send them to the (Malaysian) National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency, or the United States Federal Drug Administration to gain the registration for the vaccines,” he said during his daily press conference.
“For as long as they are not registered or have licences, they cannot sell the vaccines.”
Noor Hisham said the government has made early negotiations to obtain the vaccines to avoid scarcity of supply.
“Our concern is that if the vaccines are registered, there will be instances such as in the second wave (of Covid-19) whereby when we wanted to buy ventilators, there were not enough (supply) as everyone wanted to buy them,” he said.
“So at least we have made bookings or arrangements to obtain the vaccines as a proactive measure. We have learned from the second wave where we faced difficulties buying personal protective equipment.”
He added the agreement with the vaccine producers will be cancelled if they fail to obtain relevant licences and approvals.
Noor Hisham said the details of other agreements with other vaccine producers are confidential, which is why the government cannot make public the details yet. – The Vibes, November 30, 2020
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