By Abdullahi Mohammed, Abuja
The federal government said Thursday that the $1.5 million cost of clinical trial remains a major challenge for the local production of COVID-19 vaccines in the country.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, at the ministerial media briefing organised by the Presidential Communication Team held at the State House in Abuja.
He said a Nigerian researcher has developed COVID-19 vaccine with a high probability to succeed but the cost of clinical trial has become an obstacle. He said the federal government is seeking alternative funding by reaching out to would-be sponsors to recoup their investment when the vaccine is successful. “There is no personal interest in this. There are at least two, perhaps even three, Nigerian laboratories that have developed what you call vaccine candidates.
“In fact, yesterday, we also talked to a fourth Nigerian laboratory, based in Maryland, USA, he has also produced his own vaccine candidate.
“A vaccine candidate means that you have already been able to get the antigen, you have produced something that will work. “Now, you have to do what is called the clinical trials; clinical trial means you go through testing to show that it’s safe, it doesn’t cause a problem. Secondly, that it does what it promises to do; generate antibodies in your system. Okay.“So, you go through those clinical trials, which are very detailed and they are expensive.
“One of our researchers here, who has produced such a candidate, I asked him, how much do you think you’ll need to go through these clinical trials; phase one, phase two, phase three, he said at least $1.5 million. “That’s a lot. Do we have that now to test a vaccine? “Well, we say we look for sources where we can get the sponsors, because the sponsorship is what you need. “What some people do is that they invest in it and then once you produce the vaccine it’s successful, they buy it and that means you are done. But if it turns out not to have worked, your money is gone.
“It’s hard to find a way to sponsor these clinical trials because the are expensive and they have a very good chance of being successful, but some of them also have a good chance of not being strong enough you know, the trick of efficacy. The efficacy means how well it works. “So, we want to support our own vaccine and do the necessary thing to make sure they come out, but we are looking for the funds to support and also the necessary technical and whatever other backings that are required to get them to a level where they can… not only shall we be proud, it will be cheaper for us, we can be able to export also,” he said.The minister also explained the delay in getting the supplementary budget ready for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines for Nigerians, saying government wants a clearer picture of the different prices of available vaccines before submitting a budget.
“There are different prices of the vaccines and we don’t really know exactly the one we’re getting. And we also know that the ones we’re getting from COVAX is at no cost to us. So what we’re doing is that the additional ones that we’re going to get will take care of 50 million Nigerians, COVAX will take care of 20 million, they are even offering to take care of more than that, maybe up to 30 million.“The prices vary, some vaccines are in the neighborhood of $20 or $30, others are $5 or $6. So to really make a budget, we are working on rough sketch, some money have been earmarked. But Mr. President has also announced that there will be a supplementary budget. But we want to get a clearer picture first, before you actually submit a budget.
“So, we only have rough figures and as soon as those figures are there we can continue. We are also looking for perhaps, as I said, if we have to make the the payments, we can find some money to do that. But when that budget time comes, we need some precise information,” he said.