Vaccine maker Adimmune Corp (國光生技) yesterday said that it began the phase 1 trial of its COVID-19 vaccine this week.
The firm did not say when the first of an expected 70 participants was vaccinated and if there were any side effects.
It would reveal more information later, Adimmune said.
“Given that the novel coronavirus is mysterious, with some patients reportedly reinfected after being discharged, we would closely watch whether our candidate vaccine could induce an effective antibody against the virus and how long the antibody can remain protective,” Adimmune president Liu Chung-cheng (留忠正) told a media briefing in Taipei.
The company expects to enroll 70 volunteers by the middle of October with the help of National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH), Liu said.
“Enrolling would take some time, as we are seeking volunteers who do not have chronic diseases, which is so determining a cause is not too difficult if side effects arise,” Adimmune spokesman Pan Fei (潘飛) said.
Adimmune, which previously planned to divide the 70 participants into three groups who would receive low, medium or high doses, would add one more group of participants to receive low doses combined with an adjuvant, which can boost the immune response of a vaccine, Pan said.
The plan is to apply to begin a phase 2 trial in early December, in which the candidate vaccine would be administered to 3,000 participants, Pan said.
The second-phase trial would include participants with other health issues to test the vaccine’s effect on such people, he said.
“Our goal is to enroll at least 1,500 participants for the phase 2 clinical trial, but the more the merrier,” Adimmune chairman Steve Chan (詹啟賢) said.
The company expects to end the phase 2 trial by Lunar New Year next year, which is in the middle of February, but it would continue monitoring participants for at least a year, Chan said.
As several companies and regulators in countries such as Brazil, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines have expressed interest in cooperating with Adimmune on development of the vaccine, the firm would consider a multicenter, multinational phase 3 trial, Chan said.
Separately, TaiMed Biologics Inc (中裕新藥) on Tuesday signed a deal with Columbia University to gain access to a COVID-19 antibody developed by Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center science director David Ho (何大一), a professor of medicine at the New York university who directed the work on the antibody, the firm said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
The antibody, among the nine that Ho’s team isolated from several patients severely infected with COVID-19, is expected to be a potent neutralizer of the novel coronavirus, TaiMed Biologics said.
The company would apply to the US Food and Drug Administration to conduct a phase 1 human test of the antibody in the spring of next year, TaiMed Biologics said.
It did not reveal the amount it paid to the university.
TAKING STOCK: A Taiwanese cookware firm in Vietnam urged customers to assess inventory or place orders early so shipments can reach the US while tariffs are paused Taiwanese businesses in Vietnam are exploring alternatives after the White House imposed a 46 percent import duty on Vietnamese goods, following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on the US’ trading partners. Lo Shih-liang (羅世良), chairman of Brico Industry Co (裕茂工業), a Taiwanese company that manufactures cast iron cookware and stove components in Vietnam, said that more than 40 percent of his business was tied to the US market, describing the constant US policy shifts as an emotional roller coaster. “I work during the day and stay up all night watching the news. I’ve been following US news until 3am
UNCERTAINTY: Innolux activated a stringent supply chain management mechanism, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure optimal inventory levels for customers Flat-panel display makers AUO Corp (友達) and Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday said that about 12 to 20 percent of their display business is at risk of potential US tariffs and that they would relocate production or shipment destinations to mitigate the levies’ effects. US tariffs would have a direct impact of US$200 million on AUO’s revenue, company chairman Paul Peng (彭雙浪) told reporters on the sidelines of the Touch Taiwan trade show in Taipei yesterday. That would make up about 12 percent of the company’s overall revenue. To cope with the tariff uncertainty, AUO plans to allocate its production to manufacturing facilities in
Six years ago, LVMH’s billionaire CEO Bernard Arnault and US President Donald Trump cut the blue ribbon on a factory in rural Texas that would make designer handbags for Louis Vuitton, one of the world’s best-known luxury brands. However, since the high-profile opening, the factory has faced a host of problems limiting production, 11 former Louis Vuitton employees said. The site has consistently ranked among the worst-performing for Louis Vuitton globally, “significantly” underperforming other facilities, said three former Louis Vuitton workers and a senior industry source, who cited internal rankings shared with staff. The plant’s problems — which have not
COLLABORATION: Given Taiwan’s key position in global supply chains, the US firm is discussing strategies with local partners and clients to deal with global uncertainties Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) yesterday said it is meeting with local ecosystem partners, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), to discuss strategies, including long-term manufacturing, to navigate uncertainties such as US tariffs, as Taiwan occupies an important position in global supply chains. AMD chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) told reporters that Taiwan is an important part of the chip designer’s ecosystem and she is discussing with partners and customers in Taiwan to forge strong collaborations on different areas during this critical period. AMD has just become the first artificial-intelligence (AI) server chip customer of TSMC to utilize its advanced
RSS