Thailand Ready To Test COVID-19 Vaccine On Humans In November

Photo illustration (Louis Reed / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Researchers in Thailand plan to start trials of the COVID-19 vaccine against humans in November. Now they are preparing ten thousand vaccines for trials.

This was said by a senior official in charge of the experiment. It is hoped that the vaccine will be ready for use by the end of next year.

Launching Bloomberg, Monday, July 13, the Director of the Chulalongkorn University Vaccine Development Program in Bangkok said that positive test results have occurred in primates and mice. Based on that, the dosage for human trials was prepared.

"We hope this vaccine can produce neutralizing antibodies in humans seen in monkeys and mice," said Kiat Ruxrungtham, director of the Chulalongkorn University Vaccine Development Program.

Until now there is still no approved vaccine to ward off the virus that causes COVID-19. However, there are 19 candidates who will conduct vaccine trials on humans globally. China has taken the lead in vaccine manufacturing, with an experimental vaccine by Sinovac Biotech Ltd (SVA.O).

Thailand still has to finish production by October and will send the product to a second facility which will be completed in November. Initially, the earliest target was September. However, Kiat said at that time the availability of vaccines was not sufficient.

In the first phase of the clinical trial, Thailand will enroll about a hundred volunteers. They will be split inward. One group contains people aged 18 to 60 years. Others are those aged 60 to 80 years.

The focus of the first phase, which will take about two months, is to determine the safety and appropriate dosages for human use. It is estimated that volunteer recruitment will begin in early September.

However, the trial will also not accept volunteers until those responsible for the trial receive approval from the Thai Food and Drug Administration and ethics committee. Thai company BioNet-Asia is preparing a large-scale facility if the trials prove successful, said Kiat.

"If everything goes according to plan, the vaccine will be ready for Thailand in the third or fourth quarter of next year," said Kiat.

The vaccine made by Chulalongkorn University uses a new mRNA technology similar to a project led by Moderna Inc. based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

This technique is cost effective and ideal for large scale production. Thailand also has several other ongoing COVID-19 vaccine studies using a variety of methods.

Production of ten thousand doses for vaccine trials will begin next week. Once the pilot has completed all stages, Thailand will start output. The potential output will later be to increase distribution supply to neighboring countries and other low or middle income economies.

Thailand has a total of 3,220 COVID-19 cases, of which 58 have ended in death. A total of 3,090 people have been declared cured. The last month of COVID-19 cases in Thailand did not come from local transmissions.