AstraZeneca pulls out of bid to hold Covid-19 vaccine trials in Philippines; virus cases almost reaching 450,000

People wearing face masks and face shields shop for Christmas lanterns at a store in Las Pinas City, Metro Manila, Philippines. The Covid-19 cases on Saturday (Dec 12) was almost reaching 450,000, announced the DOH of the Philippines. - Reuters

MANILA, Dec 12 (Xinhua): AstraZeneca, the Britain-based drug maker, has withdrawn its application to conduct Covid-19 vaccine clinical trials in the Philippines, the country's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced.

"They (AstraZeneca) said they have enough data already," Enrique Domingo, the FDA director general, said in a text message to Xinhua, explaining the reason AstraZeneca cited for withdrawing trials application.