SEOUL, Feb 15 (BNA): South Korean pharmaceutical companies are ramping up pre-development of the country’s first domestic COVID-19 vaccine, possibly effective against the omicron variant, which could be a game-changer in the fight against the year-long epidemic.
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, a total of 11 candidate vaccines for COVID-19 developed by domestic pharmaceutical companies are in development after obtaining approval for clinical trials.
Some drug companies have either begun developing vaccines designed specifically for Omicron or studying whether their candidate vaccine is effective against Omicron, which has become the dominant strain in the country since late last year.
Among the leading companies in the vaccine industry is SK Bioscience, which is currently conducting a phase 3 global clinical trial of a candidate COVID-19 vaccine.
The £510, under development by a subsidiary of the second family-controlled group here, SK Group, is the country’s first domestic candidate vaccine to enter the final phase of its clinical trial, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.
The drugmaker also said it was about to conduct clinical trials worth £510 on young children and teenagers, and set up clinical trials for pregnant women as well.
The vaccine manufacturer also said it aims to start a phase 1 clinical trial in April of vaccines targeting omicron using the £510 platform.
SK Bioscience also said it aims to produce an interim result of its £510 trials in the first quarter of the year and is seeking emergency approval from local drug authorities by the first half of the year.
The company is looking to commercialize through the WHO’s COVAX Global Vaccine Facility Project, COVAX, after receiving prequalification for vaccines from the WHO by the end of the year.
Smaller domestic company Genexine Inc is also testing the efficacy of its candidate DNA-based vaccine, GX-19N, against the omicron variant.
The company said it has completed a phase two clinical trial. The results, however, have not yet been published.
With the aim of dealing with the omicron variant and the growing number of hacking infections, Genexine said it also modified GX-19N for use as a booster dose during its clinical trial in Indonesia.
Eubiologics, another smaller company, also won approval from local drug authorities last month to conduct a phase 3 clinical trial of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
The global clinical trial is currently recruiting nearly 4,000 participants.
HF