Former DG of CDC Says Taiwan Too Slow in Vaccine Development

Former DG of CDC Says Taiwan Too Slow in Vaccine Development

Source: UDN

July 8, 2020

Five manufacturers for COVID-19 vaccine around the globe have already entered the third phase of human clinical trials. Their vaccines are expected to be launched in autumn or winter this year at the earliest. In Taiwan, three manufacturers are working hard to put their vaccines on the market by the first quarter of 2021, but industry figures, government officials and academics all hold a pessimistic view. Su Ih-jen (蘇益仁), a former director-general of the Centers for Disease Control, blatantly says that “Taiwan’s progress is indeed too slow in this respect.”

Several industry figures complain that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) has not issued an Emergency Use Authorization for vaccines. Su says that to accelerate the development of vaccine, other countries have eased rules for clinical trials. He takes phase 2 trials as an example, saying that the World Health Organization suggests 1,500 to 2,000 participants, but Taiwan’s FDA still demands 3,000. “Having a participant requires NT$200,000 (approx. US$6,800), so manufacturers cannot afford that,” he says.

Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川), a former director general of the Department of Health, the forerunner of the MOHW, fears that the development of domestically-produced vaccine may fall a year behind the US, UK, and Mainland China.

Chen Hsiu-hsi (陳秀熙), vice dean of public health at National Taiwan University, does not think Taiwan will successfully develop a vaccine in the first wave of vaccine races, adding that even if Taiwan successfully developed vaccines, they might not keep up with the speed of virus mutation.

Attachment : none