CCSA Reveals Updates for Developments of Home-Grown Covid-19 Vaccines

The Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has updated the public on the progress of Covid-19 vaccine developments in Thailand.

CCSA Spokesperson Taweesilp Visanuyothin has disclosed the progress of vaccines currently being developed in the country. The vaccines development revealed were the Chula-Cov19 vaccine and HXP-GPOVac.

The Chula-Cov19 vaccine is an mRNA vaccine, is being developed by Chulalongkorn University. The vaccine, according to the developers, can be produced swiftly, does not require a large facility for production, and is more adaptable for storage and administration. Its development is currently in its second-phase clinical test and is expected to be registered in 2022. 

The HXP-GPOVac is an inactivated vaccine currently in development by The Government Pharmacy Organisation (GPO). Its development is currently in its second phase. The advantages of this vaccine are that the GPO facilities can produce it without needing reinvestment. Its development is also supported by Programme for Appropriate for Technology in Health (PATH), an international nonprofit organization. Phase three of the vaccine’s development is expected to finish in the third quarter of this year.

Another potential COVID-19 vaccine being developed in Thailand is a protein subunit vaccine produced from plants by a Thai pharmaceutical startup. If successful, the vaccine is expected to become available in Q3 this year.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul, together with the Department of Medical Sciences director and the director of the National Vaccine Institute, has inspected the model plant-based medicines and biological products manufacturing facility, at which a new type of COVID-19 vaccine made from the tobacco plant will be produced.

Designed as a protein subunit vaccine, this vaccine will introduce selected SARS-CoV-2 antigens into the recipient’s body to stimulate an immune response, unlike the viral vector or mRNA technologies which require the body to express these antigens itself.

The CCSA said that there are currently 20 Covid-19 vaccines in the development pipeline in Thailand. Four vaccines are currently in clinical trials which are Chula-Cov19, HXP-GPOVac, Baiya SARS-CoV-2 Vax, and the Covigen vaccine.