The nation’s only human vaccine manufacturer said it is conducting clinical trials to establish a databank on the efficacy and safety of locally produced seasonal influenza vaccines.
“Clinical trials will involve about 350 people in various age brackets to assess the effectiveness and side effects of our influenza vaccine,” Adimmune Corp spokeswoman Shen Ya-hui (沈雅慧) said.
Taiwan usually imports its flu vaccine from abroad, but few foreign vaccine manufacturers have ever conducted clinical tests on Taiwanese people to evaluate their response to the products, Shen said.
As a result, she said, there is no data or information about the level of protection the imported flu vaccines provide Taiwanese people.
Taking influenza A(H1N1) as an example, foreign studies have shown that older people might have immunity rates of about 30 percent because of the greater chance that they were infected with a less virulent form of the virus in the past, she said.
However, Shen said, clinical studies conducted by Adimmune have shown that only 3 percent of Taiwanese are immune to H1N1.
The company’s new vaccine will be able to protect local people against the virulent and sometimes fatal H1N1 form of the virus because it contains one of the virus strains that was prevalent in Taiwan last year, she said.
Shen said that Adimmune is conducting the clinical trials among both adults and children, with tests on 120 adults in two age brackets — those aged 18 to 60 and those older than 60. The trial began on Aug. 9.
The pediatric clinical trials, which will be conducted among children in three age brackets — those aged between six months and three years; those aged between three and nine; and those aged between nine and 18 — are scheduled to start later this month.
Shen added the company will also conduct trials on those aged between six months and one year in order to establish an extensive information databank on vaccine efficacy and safety.
Since the publicly financed influenza immunization program will be launched in mid-October, Shen said the Adimmune will complete a mid-term report on the results of the clinical trials before the program’s launch.
Afterward, the company will continue to monitor the sustainability of its vaccine’s effectiveness and track any possible side effects.
“We will come up with final reports in February, June and August next year,” she said, adding the company hopes its clinical research will help enhance people’s confidence in its product.
The Department of Health has already placed an order for a total of 3 million doses of influenza vaccines from three companies — Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis and Adimmune — for the free immunization program.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS