Clinical trials of first-ever Egyptian vaccine against Covid-19 to kick-off

Clinical trials of EgyVax, the first all-Egyptian vaccine against Covid-19, are expected to kick off soon, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar told reporters in a press conference on Tuesday. He did not mention a specific date though.

Abdel-Ghaffar explained that the vaccine has been produced in cooperation with state-run Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines (VACSERA) and privately-owned pharmaceutical company EVA PHARMA. He described the production of the vaccine as “a strategic industry” and “a matter of national security”.

EVA PHARMA CEO Riad Armanious said at the press conference that operations had been underway to build up a manufacturing capacity of 500 million doses annually. It is the first-ever entirely local vaccine in Egypt’s history.

The expected production will cover local needs as well as those of neighbouring countries.

The clinical trials of EgyVax will be conducted on 45 volunteers after having been tested for having no antibodies in their blood.

The pre-clinical studies undertaken on animals indicated an increase in the anti-bodies against the virus after being injected with two doses of EgyVax.  

On Tuesday evening, the Egyptian health ministry reported a total of 1,322 Covid-19 cases and 36 deaths, among a population of around 101 million people. These numbers have been in decline over the last weeks but many cases are believed to go unreported as people tend to self-isolate without going to the hospital for treatment.