The Philippines’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the clinical trials for the COVID-19 vaccine from Janssen – the pharmaceutical firm of Johnson & Johnson.
FDA head Rolando Domingo confirmed that the trials could begin in the next few weeks.
“Yesterday we already approved one, this is the clinical trial application of Janssen. This has been given the go-signal by FDA,” said Domingo during a press briefing.
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The Department of Science and Technology is tasked to assign areas to be included for the trials and to search for volunteers who will get the dose.
Janssen’s COVID-19 vaccine makes use of Adenovirus 26 – a “non-replicating viral vector” that has been genetically engineered to invade cells. However, this viral vector is unable to replicate and cause diseases.
As of posting time, the FDA is still assessing the late-stage trial applications for Clover Biopharmaceuticals and Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccines.
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