Thailand hopes to produce COVID-19 vaccine next year

BANGKOK (NNT) – Thai researchers have completed a trial of a potential COVID-19 vaccine with rats, to be followed by a trial in monkeys. The team coordinated with North American manufacturers to produce the first batch of the vaccine.

The Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) spokesman Dr Taweesin Visanuyothin, said yesterday regarding the development of a potential vaccine against COVID-19 in Thailand, that the vaccine had passed its trial in rats, with the next step being a trial in monkeys.

The vaccine, developed by Thai researchers, is an MRNA vaccine designed to help the body create immunity against the new coronavirus. It could be available as early as next year, provided that all tests are successful. The Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, has ordered the development to progress urgently.

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Dr Taweesin said, “Chulalongkorn University’s Vaccine Research Center has joined forces with the National Vaccine Institute and the Department of Medical Sciences in this vaccine development, in which initial tests on lab rats have been successful. The vaccine will be tested on monkeys next week.

The Minister of Higher Education said the Prime Minister has ordered the project to move along urgently, ensuring that Thailand would be among the first countries to have a vaccine available.

“This is good news for Thai people, and deserving of praise for Thai scientists.”

CCSA spokesman said today that researchers have coordinated with manufacturers in the U.S. and Canada to produce the first batch of the vaccine, which will be used in clinical trials with human volunteers.

Thai researchers started COVID-19 vaccine monkey trials

After a promising outcome from trials in rats, an anti-virus vaccine prototype developed by Thai researchers is now being tested in monkeys, with the results expected by September.

Researchers from the National Research Council of Thailand, the National Vaccine Institute, and Chulalongkorn University today started the trial of the mRNA vaccine prototype for COVID-19 at Chulalongkorn University’s National Primate Research Center of Thailand in Saraburi.

In the trial, the vaccine will be given in various doses to 13 female cynomolgus monkeys aged 4-6 years, which are comparable to humans aged 12 years or older.