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
Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hao (李佳豪) on Sunday won a silver medal at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham, England, a career best. Lee, 25, took silver in the final of the men’s singles against world No. 1 Shi Yuqi (石宇奇) of China, who won 21-17, 21-19 in a tough match that lasted 51 minutes. After the match, the Taiwanese player, who ranks No. 22 in the world, said it felt unreal to be challenging an opponent of Shi’s caliber. “I had to be in peak form, and constantly switch my rhythm and tactics in order to score points effectively,” he said. Lee got
EMBRACING TAIWAN: US lawmakers have introduced an act aiming to replace the use of ‘Chinese Taipei’ with ‘Taiwan’ across all Washington’s federal agencies A group of US House of Representatives lawmakers has introduced legislation to replace the term “Chinese Taipei” with “Taiwan” across all federal agencies. US Representative Byron Donalds announced the introduction of the “America supports Taiwan act,” which would mandate federal agencies adopt “Taiwan” in place of “Chinese Taipei,” a news release on his page on the US House of Representatives’ Web site said. US representatives Mike Collins, Barry Moore and Tom Tiffany are cosponsors of the legislation, US political newspaper The Hill reported yesterday. “The legislation is a push to normalize the position of Taiwan as an autonomous country, although the official US
‘CROWN JEWEL’: Washington ‘can delay and deter’ Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan, but it is ‘a very delicate situation there,’ the secretary of state said US President Donald Trump is opposed to any change to Taiwan’s “status quo” by force or extortion and would maintain that policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Hugh Hewitt Show host on Wednesday. The US’ policy is to maintain Taiwan’s “status quo” and to oppose any changes in the situation by force or extortion, Rubio said. Hewitt asked Rubio about the significance of Trump earlier this month speaking with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) at the White House, a meeting that Hewitt described as a “big deal.” Asked whether the meeting was an indication of the
CHANGE OF TONE: G7 foreign ministers dropped past reassurances that there is no change in the position of the G7 members on Taiwan, including ‘one China’ policies G7 foreign ministers on Friday took a tough stance on China, stepping up their language on Taiwan and omitting some conciliatory references from past statements, including to “one China” policies. A statement by ministers meeting in Canada mirrored last month’s Japan-US statement in condemning “coercion” toward Taiwan. Compared with a G7 foreign ministers’ statement in November last year, the statement added members’ concerns over China’s nuclear buildup, although it omitted references to their concerns about Beijing’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong. Also missing were references stressing the desire for “constructive and stable relations with China” and
RSS