Russian Direct Investment Fund Chief Executive Kirill Dmitriev announced last week that Moscow was willing to give Manila 1,000 vials of the vaccine for its phase three trials. In an online interview with The Manila Times, Domingo said a vaccine developer needs to present first phases one and two studies to the DoST’s Vaccine Expert Panel, which will green light a vaccine for clinical trials in the country. The vaccine will then be reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which will check the clinical trial protocol and the methodology of the trial before it is approved,Domingo said. He also reminded local government officials who are planning to do their own clinical trials to first seek FDA clearance. Dr. Jaime Montoya, executive director of the Philippine Council for Health Research Development of the DoST, said vaccine development requires a lot of research, planning, infrastructure and capacity building.

Source: Manila Times August 19, 2020 16:36 UTC