A Chinese pharmaceutical company has offered the National Institute of Health (NIH) to team up to lead testing potential clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccine in Pakistan.
Sinopharm, the Chinese pharmaceutical company suggested that the clinical trial of its ‘inactive COVID-19 vaccine be led in Pakistan for the mutual benefits of the two countries.
The offer was made in a letter sent to Executive Director Maj Gen Dr.Aamer Ikram by the GM of The pharmaceutical company Sinopharm International Corp., Li Can.
The pharmaceutical company, in its letter to the NIH, said that
“an effective and successful clinical trial in Pakistan will make it to the first few countries for the launch of a COVID-19 vaccine”.
Dr. Aamer Ikram said, he received the letter on Wednesday but no progress was made so far, yet, it would be something beneficial for Pakistan if the trials would take.
The benefit from the clinical trials being held in Pakistan will be that if the vaccine attests to be successful, the country will be able to acquire it on a priority basis.
He added that we want to increase the trend of clinical trials in Pakistan but there were few complications before the trials could start in-country.
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There are a number of laws and also prior approval and support of the board of ethics committee are needed.
We will start working on this when we get clearance from the ethics committee.
NIH is an independent organization that functions under the Ministry of National health services.
The letter stated that Sinopharm is one of the first companies to have driven the development of a vaccine for the novel coronavirus.
A state-possessed enterprise, Sinopharm delivers more than 80 percent of the mandatory vaccination needs of China and played a vital role in battling the COVID-19 crises in the country.
“In the process we developed a lot of practical insights that we would like to share with you,”
It said that regulatory authorities worldwide have started emergency protocols to encourage clinical trials and early outline of a COVID-19 vaccine.
According to the GM of Sinopharm Li Can in China, Phase I and II of the clinical trials have been combined to speed up the process to get the result faster.
The signing of the contract will enable Sinopharm to share “more detailed confidential data for approvals and planning for clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“We will work in close collaboration with NIH clinical trial team during the processing for the success of the clinical trial as this endeavor is of extreme importance for both countries in accordance with the current pandemic situation,”
The Chinese pharma suggested that Pakistan adopt a similar approach through the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap).
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