“Despite vaccine delay, Phase III to complete in 2021"

Deputy Director of the Central Disease Control Headquarters, Expert Committee and drug companies to have discussion

Government ensures it has secured Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses for 10 million people

While Genexine’s South Korean-made COVID-19 vaccine trial is expected to get delayed due to change in candidate substance, the health authority reiterated their goal to complete a Phase III clinical trial for a Korean-made vaccine in the latter half of next year is unchanged.

 

Also the official added the global vaccine supply for 1.2 billion doses announced by Pfizer includes the 20 million doses for 10 million people the Korean government has secured.

 

At a regular COVID-19 briefing session convened on Dec.

 

15, Kwon Joon-wook, a deputy director of the Central Disease Control Headquarters, explained of the current vaccine procurement status in the country and related prospective plan.

 

The Central Disease Control Headquarters stated Genexine that stepped up to be seek a South Korean-made COVID-19 vaccine, plans to switch the candidate medicine in its investigational vaccine ‘GX-19’ as it failed to demonstrate a significant improvement in efficacy through Phase I data, compared to other vaccines developed in other countries.

 

In other words, the company has to restart from the Phase I with a new candidate substance, which the delay can negatively affect the supply plan as well.

 

Regarding the news, Deputy Director Kwon elaborated, “The Treatment and Vaccine Expert Committee is to discuss with each representatives from relevant pharmaceutical companies on Dec.

 

16.

 

South Korea has two companies developing DNA vaccine platform and one synthetic platform developing company.

 

But apparently, even a global company could not complete a Phase III trial or result in a successful outcome using those two platforms.” Unlike the investigational DNA vaccine platform in Korea, the vaccines in development by Pfizer and Moderna use mRNA platform and other companies are using vector vaccines so their development speed has been faster, according to the deputy director’s explanation.

 

He added, “As South Korea has a shorter history of vaccine development and accumulated less experience, the companies are repeatedly undergoing trial and error.

 

Only a few developers can actually reach Phase I or II by repeating the cycle of success, failure and evaluation.

 

Regardless of the challenges, South Korea is to push on for the Phase III vaccine clinical trial by the second half of next year.” Also the official mentioned the Pfizer vaccine doses for 10 million people is included in the 1.2 billion doses Pfizer has announced of, as the doses for South Korea were already secured before the announcement.

 

Deputy Director Kwon said, “Although the detailed supply schedule for South Korea has not been set as the contract is not legally finalized, but at least the doses for 10 million people are secured.” And on the presidential order to secure the additional doses, he noted, “The government is doing its best to import them at the right timing.

 

And it is providing support on Korean-made vaccines to secure more vaccines from various sources.”