Chinese, Malaysian Coys Sign Deal on Clinical Trial

Chinese and Malaysian companies on Tuesday signed an agreement on the procurement, phase three clinical trials, and exclusive commercialisation of their inactivated Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine candidate.

The companies are Chinese company Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products Co. Ltd. (SZKT) and Malaysian public listed company Yong Tai Bhd (YTB).

YTB said in a statement that its subsidiary YTB Healthcare had formalised the collaboration with the Chinese company.

YTB Chief Executive Officer Boo Kuang Loon said he hoped the agreement would help the country to achieve herd immunity soonest possible so that life could return to normal for the people and the country’s economy would recover.

Elaborating on the agreement, YTB explained that the protocol for the phase three clinical trials would enroll 2,880 volunteers from Malaysia with each receiving the vaccine in two doses, 28 days apart.

Under the agreement, YTB has to obtain approval from the Health Ministry’s ethics committee and National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Authority (NPRA) prior to the commencement of trials in Malaysia.

“We are willing to contribute ourselves to be the first private company to initiate and sponsor the trials to be done in Malaysia with the guidance and assistance from the experts such as our CRO and CRM.

“This is because we really hope we can help the country to achieve herd immunity soonest possible so that our daily lives can be back to normal and our economy shall recover,” Boo said.

Upon the conclusion of the clinical trials or emergency usage approval, both YTB and SZKT will cooperate on a vaccine procurement programme of no less than 10 million doses of the vaccine.

Also, there will be another option of 10 million doses per year for five years period.