The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Tuesday announced the launch of phase 3 clinical trials in Pakistan for a potential vaccine being developed by China’s CanSino Biologics for the novel coronavirus.
Trials for phase 1 and 2 for the vaccine were held in China.
Pakistan, under a public-private partnership between the National Institute of Health (NIH) and CanSino, is among the countries which will carry out phase 3, the NCOC statement said.
The country's drug regulator last month gave the go-ahead for the country’s first phase 3 clinical trial for CanSino’s candidate.
Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Minister Asad Umar said that 40,000 people will participate in the trial, which is being held in seven countries across the world. Around 8,000 to 10,000 of these will be from Pakistan, he said.
Addressing a press conference alongside NIH Executive Director Maj Gen Aamer Ikram on Tuesday, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan termed the trial an "important step" in which Pakistanis would also take part.
Maj Gen Ikram said it was an "honour" for the country that it was participating in the phase 3 trial of a vaccine for the first time. "The entire world is looking towards a vaccine right now. There are seven vaccines for which trials are being conducted — three of them developed in China.
This CanSino vaccine is based on recombinant technology in which an adino-vector is made deficient. The virus vector and cell culture has been procured from Canada," he said.