INDIAN pharmaceutical company Serum Institute of India (SII), said to be the world’s largest vaccine producer, has committed to making the Covid-19 vaccine available to the Philippines once it is developed.
Local pharmaceutical distributor Faberco Life Sciences Inc said on Wednesday that it was authorised by SII to supply the vaccine it is developing with American vaccine development firm Novavax.
“The president himself has expressed doubts over whether the Philippines will get vaccines being developed in the West.
“If and when the vaccine becomes available, SII and Faberco hope to bring a pleasant surprise, ” Faberco Life Sciences medical director Dr Luningning Villa said.
President Rodrigo Duterte had earlier slammed pharmaceutical firms in Western countries for asking for advance payment on their yet-to-be-developed Covid-19 vaccines.
SII and Novovax’s vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 virus will start its third phase of vaccine trials in the US this month. — Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN