Duterte wants a government-to-government agreement on the purchase of the COVID-19 vaccine

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte speaks to the people after holding a meeting with the core members of the Interagency Working Group on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) at Matina Enclaves in Davao City on October 26, 2020. ARMAN BAYLON / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte directed the Department of Health (DOH) to first establish a government-to-government transaction on the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines, saying that transactions with private companies can result in anomalies.

In a meeting Monday night, part of which was broadcast by government media Tuesday morning, Duterte instructed Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to ensure that the country’s negotiating team will seek to resolve first an agreement between governments.

He rejected the vaccine procurement agreement in which the government purchases directly from pharmaceutical companies.

“I just want a clear picture of how we should act with his … But my feeling, Secretary (Duque), is that it should be a government-to-government transaction because it will be a good one,” Duterte said.

And tell your men if they are involved in these negotiations that they prioritize a government-to-government transaction. I hate that, I don’t like private people, let’s sell to Chinese private entrepreneurs. That’s ridiculous. Like today, it seems that they withdrew because they did not seem to agree with their terms as a partnership to deal with the Philippine government, “he added.

Duterte, however, did not specify which Chinese firm he was referring to. But Chinese state-owned company Sinopharm recently canceled plans to hold trials here in the country.

This was not the first time the president attacked drug companies.

In a speech in September, Duterte criticized Western drug makers for asking the Philippines for upfront payment for their COVID-19 vaccines that have yet to be developed.

“That is a bad thing in western countries. It’s all profit, profit, profit, ”Duterte said.

“That is a bad thing with these western companies. That is why I said that we will give preference to Russia and China, as long as their vaccine is as good as any other on the market, ”he said, speaking in part in Filipino.

Last week, Sinovac Biotech of China submitted to the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) its application to conduct Phase 3 clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine in the country. This is after the Chinese firm rejected the initial assessment by the vaccine expert panel.

Sinovac is the first pharmacist to get the green light from the panel. The panel is also evaluating COVID-19 vaccines from Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen subsidiary for late-stage trials.

Phase 3 is where thousands of patients must be inoculated with the potential vaccine. It is also usually the final step before approval for mass use.

JPV

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