COVID-19 vaccine’s clinical trials to begin in Pakistan this week

Prime Minister’s Taskforce on Science and Technology chairman, Dr Atta-ur-Rahman on Sunday said that the clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccine will start in Pakistan this week.

“The clinical trials will be conducted in partnership with Indus Hospital, Karachi”, he said while talking to APP.

A well-acclaimed international company has proposed the vaccine, ready for clinical trial in the country. International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), based in the University of Karachi, has approved to conduct clinical trials of the vaccine.

The application for clinical trials of the coronavirus vaccine was submitted to the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) for approval few months ago.

Dr Atta-ur-Rahman said that the drug regulatory authority usually takes two to three months for the completion of a vaccine’s clinical trials.

“In Pakistan, the first phase of the clinical trials is likely to start this week and it will be completed in around three months”, he said.

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He further said, “The second phase of clinical trials has already completed in China. The third phase will begin after completion of the first phase and it will also take three months,” he said.

The whole process of clinical trials (Phase-I and Phase III) will take approximately six months, after which the country will be able to manufacture the vaccine if the results are positive, Dr Rahman said.

The COVID-19 vaccine will be available in Pakistan between April and June next year, depending on the success of the trials, Dr Rahman said adding that the price of the vaccine, could not be predicted as of now.