Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has launched the National Vaccine Development Roadmap (NVDR) and Malaysian Genome and Vaccine Institute (MGVI), with aspirations for the country to become a hub for vaccine and treatment production.
Through NVDR and MGVI, Malaysia will produce quality vaccines with safety conditions set by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA), said the Prime Minister. He also said that while the R&D will require heavy investment, it will bring long-term returns in the form of cost savings in treating diseases, as well as producing high-skill human capital in healthcare research fields.
There are currently three projects in development, with the first involving two types of COVID-19 vaccines, one that is inactivated and another that uses mRNA technology, which were announced back in June. They are being developed by the Institute for Medical Research with a funding of RM3.5 million from the Health Ministry. However, Ismail clarified that NVDR will not focus solely on COVID-19, but will also develop vaccines for other diseases.
Kerajaan komited memacu R&D bagi menghasilkan teknologi dengan memastikan 50% daripada dana penyelidikan kerajaan disediakan untuk pembangunan eksperimental (pengkomersialan).
Kita perlu melahirkan lebih ramai pencipta teknologi dan bukan pengguna teknologi semata-mata.
— Ismail Sabri (@IsmailSabri60) November 1, 2021
The second project is called the Development of Mucosal/Oral/Subunit Vaccines Against Cholera, Tuberculosis and Covid-19. The cholera vaccine is being developed in collaboration with Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and AIMST University, with funding of RM10.5 million from the Science, Technology, and Innovation Ministry (MOSTI).
The third project is the Pre-clinical Evaluation of a Therapeutic Cancer Vaccine for the Treatment of Head and Neck Cancer by Cancer Research Malaysia (CRM), with a funding of RM3 million from MOSTI. CRM will conduct clinical trials in the UK from February 2022 until March 2023, as Malaysia apparently does not have a facility for human trials yet.
(Source: The Vibes)
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