New corona vaccine trials begin at Al-Shifa

The final trial of another coronavirus vaccine developed by Chinese multinational company Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical Co Ltd has been initiated at the AlShifa Trust Eye Hospital after which it will be made available to the masses across Pakistan, a spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The vaccine has already been approved by the Government of China while trials were started at Al-Shifa after the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan recommended its Rawalpindi facility for the purpose. After successful completion of phases one and two, the third and final phase was initiated on Tuesday after the signing of an agreement between Al-Shifa Trust and the Chinese company.

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According to the agreement, Zhifei Longcom will be responsible for providing investigational drug and clinical material that meets the requirements while supervising and managing the trial process. For this purpose, a state-ofthe-art Clinical Research Unit has already been established at the hospital while trials will be completed in three months with the help of one thousand volunteers, the official maintained. Al-Shifa Trust President Major General (retd) Rehmat Khan said that it is an honour for the trust that it has been selected for the vaccine trial by DRAP.