KUALA LUMPUR: The development of local vaccines has entered the pre-clinical test on animals stage, says Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba.
The Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, in revealing that, also promised that his ministry will ensure the manufacturing of the vaccines adheres to the stipulated regulations.
He said that under the National Vaccine Development Roadmap, the ministry is diversifying the vaccine development platforms.
“Currently, we have two platforms to develop our vaccines – through technological transfers with other countries and develop our own platform which uses the inactivated virus method.
“Locally, our experts at the Institute of Medical Research are also exploring the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) technology,” he told the media after the launch of the National Biotechnology Policy 2.0.
The roadmap together with the Malaysian Genome and Vaccine Institute was launched in November last year to turn the country into a vaccine production hub and to boost confidence in vaccine use.
Other than Covid-19 vaccines, the plan also includes the development of vaccines for other diseases such as cholera, and head and neck cancer.
Dr Adham also expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob for approving the requested budget to encourage the growth of the biotech industry.
“We’re thankful that the Prime Minister has approved our requests that include an allocation for the BioMalaysia international conference.
“With the RM2mil budget, it will make a comeback next year after a five-year hiatus,” he said.
Ismail Sabri has also announced a RM5mil allocation for the Bio-based Accelerator programme under the Bioeconomy Corporation, he added.
