PH Gov’t in Talks with 6 Companies for Local Vaccine Manufacturing

The Philippine government through the Board of Invesments (BOI) is in talks with six companies on plans to have coronavirius disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine locally manufactured, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez said during his broadcasted meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte Wednesday evening.

According to Lopez, the plans on having locally produced vaccines is for the country to be less dependent and save time on imports of vaccines in the forseeable future.

“The Board of Investments is talking to about six local companies on their plans for local vaccine manufacturing. We are doing this so we don’t depend on imports for the vaccine in the future,” the trade chief said.

Though the trade and BOI chief has yet to announce the companies they are in talks with, a number of Pharmaceutical companies that created COVID-19 vaccines are willing to partner up with local firms or set-up facilities in the country for local manufacturing of their respective vaccines.

Glovax Biotech aims to build the first COVID-19 vaccine plant in the country as the firm recently bared plans to build a plant in either Clark in Pampanga, or Subic in Zambales.

They will produce the EuCorVac-19 vaccine, which is developed by Pop Biotechnologies in the US.

Russian medical research institute Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, maker of the Sputnik V vaccine, also recently said that they are open to partnering up with Filipino firms for the local production of their vaccines, to save time for importation. (GFB)