The locally developed Medigen COVID-19 vaccine has successfully completed a phase 3 clinical trial in Paraguay and received emergency use authorization (EUA) from the South American nation.
The Taiwanese vaccine manufactured by Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp (高端疫苗) was hailed by Taiwanese experts as an important milestone for domestically produced vaccines.
Medigen’s vaccine has been gaining recognition from international institutions. It has been included in the WHO’s Solidarity Trial Vaccines program and received a US$2.3 million grant from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations to conduct a mix-and-match trial.
Photo: CNA
A double-blind, randomized study was used in the clinical trial in Paraguay to compare Medigen’s vaccine with that made by AstraZeneca, Taiwan Immunization Vision and Strategy (台灣疫苗推動協會) chairman Huang Yu-cheng (黃玉成) said.
The results of the trial were similar to data collected from the phase 2 trial conducted in Taiwan.
Infectious-disease expert Lee Ping-ing (李秉穎) said that he was not surprised by the results and believes that Medigen’s vaccine would be approved by more nations.
Lee said that he hoped Taiwanese vaccines would no longer be politicized, but be generally accepted by Taiwanese.
Medigen is now waiting for the results of the WHO’s Solidarity Trial Vaccines clinical study, which evaluates the effectiveness of vaccines from around the world.
If the trial proceeds as scheduled, the results are expected by the end of next month or in early April, Medigen chief executive officer Charles Chen (陳燦堅) said.
The company already has capacity to manufacture more than 100 million doses in preparation for a shift from domestic to international markets, he said.
The pandemic has offered an opportunity for domestic manufacturers to develop vaccines and for Academia Sinica to improve its mRNA-related technologies, Huang said.
The experience gained and the growth in research and development would hopefully lead to quicker responses to future pandemics, he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
The subsidiary of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in Kumamoto, Japan, turned a profit in the first quarter of this year, marking the first time the first fab of the unit has become profitable since mass production started at the end of 2024. According to the contract chipmaker’s financial statement released on Friday, Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Inc (JASM), a joint venture running the fab in Kumamoto, posted NT$951 million (US$30.19 million) in profit in the January-to-March period, compared with a loss of NT$1.39 billion in the previous quarter, and a loss of NT$3.25 billion in the first quarter of
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
RESOLUTE BACKING: Two Republican senators are planning to introduce legislation that would impose immediate sanctions on China if it attempts to invade Taiwan US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday reaffirmed US congressional support for Taiwan, saying the US and “all freedom-loving people” have a stake in preventing China from seizing Taiwan by force. Johnson made the remarks in an interview with Fox News Sunday on US President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) last week. In an interview that aired on Friday on Fox News, just as Trump wrapped up a high-stakes visit to China, he said he has yet to green-light a new US$14 billion arms package to Taiwan and that it “depends on China.” “It’s a very good
US President Donald Trump yesterday said he would speak to President William Lai (賴清德) as his administration considers whether to move ahead with a US$14 billion weapons sale to Taiwan — a potential arms deal that has drawn criticism from China. “Well, I’ll speak to him. I speak to everybody,” Trump told reporters yesterday when asked if he had any plans to call his counterpart, although he did not offer a time frame for when such a conversation could take place. Trump previously said he would speak to the person “that’s running Taiwan,” without specifying who he meant. “We have that situation very
RSS