Sinopharm reached out to DOH to conduct human clinical trials in the Philippines as early as May 2020, according to a vaccine distributor.
A vaccine distributor on Friday claimed that Chinese vaccine maker Sinopharm had reached out to the Department of Health (DOH) to conduct human trials of its COVID-19 vaccine in the Philippines as early as May 2020.
In an interview on GMA Network’s Dobol B sa News TV, representatives of MKG Universal Drugs Trading Corporation — identified only as “Juan” and “Jose” for security reasons — confirmed in a letter dated May 2020 presented by Arnold Clavio indicating Sinopharm’s intention to conduct human clinical trials in the country.
The MKG representatives claimed had the Department of Health acted on this, the country would have a Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine by now.
“Sa tagal ng inintay na mga dokumento galing sa DOH, medyo na-disappoint ang Sinopharm, dinivert nila sa UAE, iyon ang binigyan nila ng priority sa clinical trials,” Jose said in an interview.
On the other hand, Juan said that their company had been engaged with Sinopharm since mid-March or April of 2020.
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In addition, the MKG representatives said that Sinopharm’s human clinical trials in the United Arab Emirates were done in July to September 2020 and turned in good results.
According to Juan, the clinical trial in UAE was very successful as the efficacy rate was at 86 percent.
This was the second time the Department of Health had been accused of sitting on documents that were crucial in securing the Philippines’ COVID-19 vaccine supply.
Duque’s Response
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III also on Friday denied that he didn’t act on a request of Sinopharm to conduct human clinical trials for its COVID-19 vaccine in the country.
In an interview on Super Radyo dzBB, Duque said that he wasn’t aware of any letter supposedly sent by Sinopharm in May 2020 requesting authorization to conduct human clinical trials.
Duque was reacting to the claim made by MKG — sole distributor of Sinopharm’s COVID-19 vaccine in the Philippines — that Sinopharm’s request received no feedback from the DOH.
According to Duque, such correspondence by Sinopharm could have been sent to the Food and Drug Administration since it’s the FDA, not the DOH, which approved the application for human clinical trials.
In a joint press release, the Food and Drug Administration said that Sinopharm had not submitted any applications for human clinical trials or emergency use authorization (EUA).
READ ALSO: PSG Ready For Investigation, Legal Repercussions Of Unauthorized COVID-19 Vaccines
Meanwhile, The Department of Science and Technology said that Sinopharm reached out to the DOST with two proposals for collaboration — one proposal was for the conduct of a human clinical trial that would be funded by the Philippines, and the other one was that the Philippines would recognize the authorization or approval from China.
However, the DOST said that the department wrote back to Sinopharm to say that the Philippines only funded human clinical trials under the WHO Solidarity Trial, adding that Sinopharm never responded to the department’s letter afterwards.
The Department of Health also clarified that the country’s participation in human clinical trials — including Sinopharm’s — was approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) last May 2020.
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