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SUPORTADO ng Malacañang ang isinusulong na mga pag-aaral para sa oral CoVid-19 vaccine na natuklasan ng isang Filipino priest na microbiology expert.
Tiniyak ni Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque na popondohan ng Department of Science and Technology (DOST) ang clinical trial ng oral vaccine na natuklasan ni Father Nicanor Austriaco at kapag napatunayan na epektibo at ligtas, tutuparin ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte ang pangakong bibigyan ng premyo ang sinomang Filipino na makaiimbento ng CoVid-19 vaccine.
“Well, I’m sure kung mare-recognize po talaga na epektibo at ligtas itong ating vaccine na ini-develop nila Fr. Austriaco e mayroon pong ibibigay talagang prize ang ating Presidente dahil mayroon naman po siyang ipinangakong prize para roon sa mga magkakaroon ng imbensiyon na makatutulong sa laban natin sa CoVid-19. Pero sa ngayon po ang maitutulong ng gobyerno, ang DOST po, Fr. Austriaco, I’m sure you know already can fund a clinical trial for the oral vaccine that you have ‘no. We can even fund it using government money and the clinical studies would be conducted by leading universities ‘no,” ani Roque sa virtual press briefing kahapon.
Nagpasalamat si Fr. Nicanor Austriaco sa suporta ng Malacañang sa kanyang imbensyon.
Si Austriaco ay University of Santo Tomas biological sciences professor, OCTA Research fellow, nagtapos na summa cum laude sa BioEngineering sa University of Pennsylvania, may doctorate degree sa Biology sa Massachusetts Institute of Technology, professor sa Biology sa Providence College sa Rhode Island, USA na may laboratory na pinopondohan ng National Institute of Health.
“First of all, I would like to thank Secretary Roque for his support,” aniya.
Sinabi ni Austriaco, nakapagbuo na siya, kasama ang kanyang mga estudyante sa Amerika ng vaccine delivery system at sa kasalukuyan ay nagkakasa na sila ng scientific team sa University of Santo Tomas (UST) na magsasagawa ng animal studies na kailangan para makapaghain ng clinical trial permission sa Filipinas.
“We have built the vaccine delivery system; I built it with my students in the United States. It took us 3 months. We are now assembling a scientific team here at UST to undertake the animal studies that we will need in order to apply for clinical trial permissions from the national government of the Philippines,” ani Austriaco.
“So at this point, the animal trials would take several months and then of course it will take several months for clinical trials. So the earliest, probably it will be second generation vaccine, the middle of next year. But we do hope that it will be successful – only God knows at this time – and my goal is this vaccine is for the poor of the Philippines. So we would like to make it as cheap as possible,” dagdag niya.
Nauna rito’y inihayag ni Austriaco na magkakahalaga ng P35 hanggang P50 ang bawat dose ng kanyang oral vaccine.
“I have a vow of poverty myself; I do not have a salary so I’m doing this as my students will say – for God, for the Philippines and for UST,” aniya.
Inilinaw ni Austriaco na hindi kailangan iparehistro sa Amerika ang kanyang oral vaccine dahil hindi gumamit ng pondo ng National Institute of Health sa US para sa pagbuo ng bakuna.
Pawang pondo mula sa pribadong grupo ang ginastos nila sa pag-aaral sa oral vaccine at nakikipag-usap na si Austriaco sa UST para sa patent o karapatang-tuklas nito sa Filipinas.
“In anticipation of doing that research here in the Philippines, we did not use any NIH funding for the development of this vaccine in the United States. So we used private funds and right now I am going to —I’m in conversations with UST to begin the process of patenting the oral vaccine here in the Philippines,” sabi ni Austriaco. (ROSE NOVENARIO)
