
TheMinistry of Health and the Ministry of Science and Technology held a meeting onJuly 22 to review the outcomes of clinical trials of the vaccine, which isproduced by Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology JSC based on recombinantDNA/protein technology.
Basedon the evaluation, the vaccine may be approved for emergency use.
Itwent through the first phase trial from December 18, 2020, and the second phasefrom February 26, 2021. The third phase started on June 11, 2021.
Resultsfrom the first two trial phases showed that all volunteers developed antibodiesagainst SARS-CoV-2.
Atthe meeting, a representative from Nanogen said more than 13,620 volunteers hadbeen vaccinated with Nano Covax vaccine so far.
Thethird and the final phase saw participation of 13,000 volunteers with 1,004people getting two jabs.
Thecompany said it would continue to complete documents relating to the productsand outcomes of the trials to submit to the Ministry of Health next week.
Chairmanof the Advisory Council for the Registration of Circulation of Drugs andMedicinal Ingredients Le Van Truyen said the council supported the research anddevelopment of homegrown vaccines but registration dossiers for approvingvaccines in emergency situations must meet scientific and legal standards.
DeputyMinister of Science and Technology Bui The Duy said under the current complexdevelopment of the pandemic, the ministry hoped health experts would evaluateoutcomes of the clinical trials scientifically and create conditions to speedup research and production of the vaccine.
DeputyMinister of Health Tran Van Thuan said the ministry supported and createdconditions for Nanogen as well as other domestic companies and units toresearch and develop vaccines with the hope that Vietnam would soon be able toproduce “Made in Vietnam” vaccines to help ensure vaccine supply forcoronavirus control.
Regardinglicensing conditions, Thuan asked Nanogen to work with agencies to completedossiers about the outcomes of the first and second phases of human trials andsoon update results of the third phase.
Based onthe outcomes of trials and the opinions of domestic and foreign experts as wellas the pandemic situation and vaccine demand, the Ministry of Health will studyand consider the licensing of the Nano Covax vaccine for emergency use.
NanoCovax is the most promising candidate among four domestic vaccines beingdeveloped by Vietnam. If approved, commercial production could start soon.
Theother vaccines are being developed by the Institute of Vaccines and MedicalBiologicals, the Vaccine and Biological Production Company No. 1, and theCenter for Research and Production of Vaccines and Biologicals.
Vietnamhas so far approved six vaccines for emergency use, namely Janssen, Moderna,Sputnik V, Pfizer, Sinopharm and AstraZeneca.
TheGovernment is making efforts to secure at least 150 million vaccine doses to inoculate70 percent of the population.
Asof July 23 morning, 4,411,659 doses of the vaccines, mainly AstraZeneca, havebeen administered in Vietnam, with 334,560 people having received the full twodoses./.