Five pharmaceutical companies that are researching and developing the vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 have held a seminar in Yokohama city within the framework of the biotechnology exhibition and announced the prospect of this vaccine production.
A company based in Osaka says it has begun clinical trials of vaccines using new technology including DNA. According to a company speaker, even if vaccine development goes well, it will not be until the second half of 2022 that the vaccine will be available for mass production.
A speaker from another major pharmaceutical company said the company hopes to develop a vaccine as soon as possible and aims to have a vaccine by 2022. The company is currently developing a vaccine using RNA genetic material.
A speaker from the Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Agency, responsible for evaluating domestically produced drugs, said the agency shares a common view with the international community on efficacy and safety, and will give a fair evaluation of the vaccines, regardless of whether they are made in Japan or abroad.