KUALA LUMPUR – All Covid-19 vaccine candidates being developed in the country have yet to be commercialised, the Dewan Negara was told today.
Deputy Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Ahmad Amzad Hashim said vaccine candidates must undergo research and development and clinical and preclinical studies before they can be commercialised.
“Every step of vaccine production must comply with the regulations and standards set by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency as well as international organisations,” Amzad said during Question Time here today.
He said this in response to a question from Senator Datuk Paul Igai who wanted to know the current status of the manufacture of local Covid-19 vaccines, as well as the list of vaccines that have been developed and commercialised by Malaysia.
Amzad said the country was currently developing two types of Covid-19 vaccines, namely inactivated vaccines and messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines.
He said the production of inactivated vaccines was now at the preclinical study phase, and that the proof-of-concept study which started in Feb 2022 is expected to complete by July, following which data analysis would be conducted and completed by end-December.
“The mRNA-based vaccine is at the laboratory stage, namely in-vitro transcription which began in June 2021 and is expected to be completed by December this year.
“If the proof of concept on these two vaccines is successful, the production of these vaccines will be continued through laboratories which adhere to good laboratory practices and good manufacturing practices,” he said. – Bernama, March 28, 2022
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