The recently-signed deal may be deemed void if AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine failed to secure an FDA approval, according to DOH.
The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday said that the recently-signed deal between AstraZeneca, the private sector, and the Philippine government may be deemed void if AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine failed to secure an approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the Philippines.
During PTV’s “Laging Handa Public Briefing”, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Monday said that it’s possible that the said deal may be deemed void because it means that there’s a violation of the agreement.
The Philippine government and private firms signed a supply agreement with AstraZeneca involving at least 2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses last week.
National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief Carlito Galvez Jr., who was also the COVID-19 vaccine czar, said that the private sector would shoulder the cost of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines.
READ ALSO: More Companies Want To Join AstraZeneca Supply Deal, Says Gov’t Adviser
AstraZeneca was currently under fire for previously claiming its COVID-19 vaccine was 90% effective and then admitted an error on the vaccine data for the tests.
Dr. Jaime Montoya, the executive director of Council for Health Research and Development at the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), said that AstraZeneca had already signed a Confidentiality Data Agreement (CDA) which allowed the Philippines’ vaccine experts panel to review the company’s clinical trials documents.
“Ang kailangan po nating gawin dito is we have to wait for the official publication of the data that we have been talking about. For now, ang vaccine experts panel are basing their evaluation on the documents submitted to them by AstraZeneca. So let us wait for the evaluation of the data,” Montoya said.
AstraZeneca was one of the five drugmakers that had applied to conduct Phase 3 clinical trials of their candidate COVID-19 vaccine in the country.
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