International
Pakistan to conduct phase-III clinical trial of COVID vaccine
New Delhi: The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has given a nod for phase-III clinical trial of a COVID-19 vaccine developed in collaboration with a Chinese company, a media report said on Tuesday.
As per the National Institute of Health (NIH), it has obtained “formal approval” from the DRAP for phase-III Clinical Trial of Recombinant Novel Coronavirus Vaccine Adenovirus Type 5 vector (Ad5-nCoV) developed by CanSinoBio and Beijing Institute of Biotechnology China (BIB)”.
The NIH said this would be the first-ever phase-III clinical trial for any vaccine in Pakistan.
“It is a multi-country multi-centre clinical trial which CanSinoBio is already conducting in China, Russia, Chile, Argentina and will shortly start in Saudi Arabia. The principal investigator of the multi-centre clinical trial in Pakistan is NIH executive director Maj Gen Aamer Ikram,” the statement said.
“AJM Pharma CEO Adnan Hussain signed an agreement with theNIH last month for collaborating on the phase-III clinical trial of CanSinoBIO Ad5-nCoV in Pakistan,” it said.
According to a document signed by DRAP Clinical Studies Committee secretary Shafqat Hussain Danish, the committee recommended that the trial be held in Indus Hospital in Karachi.
The Dawn newspaper reported that after seeing the document the test will be carried out by the International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences, Karachi, in collaboration with a Chinese company already conducting trials in China.
As many as 200 volunteers from Karachi, representing various ethnic groups, have been registered.
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