Coronavirus: Sinovac vaccine trial said to be stalled in Bangladesh over funding
- Phase 3 test of CoronaVac uncertain after drug company asked government to co-finance it, according to local media reports citing health secretary
- National Research Ethics Committee member says request is unusual, and Dhaka ‘may not be in a position to invest money for this purpose’
The phase 3 test of Beijing-based Sinovac Biotech’s CoronaVac vaccine is now uncertain after the company asked Dhaka to co-finance the trials, a stipulation outside the original agreement, according to reports citing a Bangladeshi health ministry official.
“They [Sinovac] informed us that they would be able to start the trial soon if we co-fund the initiative. We will make a decision after talking to the prime minister,” health secretary Abdul Mannan told Bangladeshi newspaper The Daily Star last week.
“We are not dependent on Sinovac. The government is looking for other avenues to get the vaccine right after it is developed,” he said.
Sinovac did not specify the amount of funding it was asking for in the letter, which was sent last month, according to the newspaper.
The company could not immediately be reached for comment during China’s national holiday. Information about the CoronaVac trial in Bangladesh does not appear on the company website.