Taiwan has approved the first vaccine created and developed on the island by Medigen Vaccines Biologics Corp, a local biopharmaceutical company, under the scientific name MVC-COV1901. It is about a protein subunit formulation, composed of a synthetic version of the S protein from SARS-CoV-2 S. By recognising that this protein should not be present, the body creates T-lymphocytes and antibodies that will remember how to fight the covid-19-causing virus if we are infected in the future.
- A phase I clinical trial has been performed over 45 volunteer patients to assess the safety of the drug. According to the published results, most side effects were mild and similar among all patients. No serious side effects were reported. Subsequently, a phase II trial was conducted on 3,700 volunteers, the results of which, according to the company, confirmed the safety of the injection and the generation of neutralising antibodies.
The vaccine was approved on 19 July in Taiwan, prior to the start of the third phase of clinical trials, although official data on the vaccine's efficacy against symptomatic infection are not yet available. Approval of a Phase III clinical trial in Paraguay has also been announced.
The vaccine is delivered in two doses 28 days apart, which should be stored between 2 and 8 ºC.
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