Chinese firm breaks promise made to Bangladesh on COVID-19 vaccine trials

Chinese drugmaker Sinovac, which is developing a COVID-19 vaccine has broken its promise to Bangladesh. Sinovac has told Bangladesh that it needs to co-finance the effort if it wanted phase-3 trials to take place in the country.

"They (Sinovac Biotech Ltd) sent a letter to Bangladesh government seeking co-financing for performing phase-3 human trial," Abdul Mannan, the health division secretary of Bangladesh, was quoted as saying by The Daily Star, Bangladesh's largest circulating English language newspaper.

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As per The Daily Star, Sinovac had made an agreement with Bangladesh saying that it would bear the cost of the phase-3 trials itself.

In a letter to Bangladesh dated September 24, Sinovac said that the trials would get delayed unless Bangladesh co-financed the efforts. No specific amount has been mentioned by Sinovac as yet

"It may take some time to reach a concrete decision on co-funding the vaccine trial . . . (but) Bangladesh government is sincerely thinking about the matter keeping in mind the issue of public benefits," Mannan said.

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Dr Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam, the chief professor at Directorate General of Health Services said that Bangladesh government was positive about the proposal.

However, officials familiar with the fresh development said they received Sinovac's proposal seeking the co-funding on September 22.

Bangladesh continues to report a surge in the number of coronavirus cases, with the current infections number standing at 368,690. The total number of deaths due to the deadly virus stands at 5,348, local media reported.

(With PTI inputs)