By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, July 25: Malaysia could very well be on its way to producing its own locally made human vaccine by 2028, which is made possible by local company Pharmaniaga Bhd through technology transfer from a company in China.
In a news report by The Star, Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation Chang Lih Kang said this would enable the country to reduce its reliance on imports.
At present, Malaysia imports all its vaccines from countries such as the US, France, Belgium, Japan, South Korea, India, Thailand, and Indonesia.
The 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) is an injection that protects against 13 strains (or serotypes) of Streptococcus pneumoniae, a bacterium that can cause serious illnesses such as pneumonia and meningitis.
Chang said the Covid-19 pandemic underscored the risks of lacking domestic capabilities in critical technologies, particularly in vaccine development and production.
“When you rely on other countries, they will decide when to deliver the vaccines to us, and they will decide what price they want to sell them to us. So it becomes an issue, especially when a crisis happens,” he was quoted as saying.
Additionally, he said Malaysia is also working on two vaccine-related developments, including a hexavalent vaccine for children to protect against six diseases.
The most common hexavalent vaccine used in childhood immunisation protects against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), hepatitis B, polio and haemophilus influenza type B. — DayakDaily
