The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said it has approved 22 clinical trials to develop Covid-19 treatments and vaccines.

Five of the 22 trials have been completed with the other 17 in progress. Korean pharmaceutical companies are now conducting 12 trials --seven of them are in phase 2 and the five others are in phase 1.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is going all out to secure Covid-19 treatments and vaccines through local development or imports. (MFDS)

Phase 2 studies of GC Pharma’s blood plasma therapy received regulatory approval on July 20. Six hospitals, including Samsung Medical Center, will conduct the trials on patients within seven days of Covid-19 symptoms, starting in September.

Celltrion has finished administering its neutralizing antibody, CT-P59, to healthy people participating in the phase 1 study. The ministry is reviewing the company’s clinical development plan for phase 2 and 3 simultaneously.

Other drugmakers, such as Bukwang Pharmaceutical, Enzychem Lifesciences, Shin Poong Pharmaceutical, Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical, CrystalGenomics, and Daewoong Pharmaceutical, are also speeding up the development of Covid-19 treatments.

For vaccines under development in the nation, the International Vaccine Institute and Genexine are conducting phase 1 and 2a clinical trials.

In addition to the Covid-19 vaccines, the ministry is trying to approve the swift release of 30 million doses of flu vaccines, up 20 percent from 2019, in preparation for the simultaneous outbreak of seasonal flu and Covid-19, dubbed as “twindemics.”

The government plans to release more than 26 million vaccines before Sep. 22 when the free vaccination begins in earnest.

“We will continue to monitor the development of Covid-19 therapies and vaccines, and do our best to guarantee the treatment opportunities for the public by approving locally developed drugs as sell as facilitating imports,” the ministry said.

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