• Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

IIBR Blames Over-regulation for Slowing Down Israel’s Coronavirus Vaccine

Nov 30, 2020

Dr. Shmuel Shapira, the head of the Israel Institute for Biological Research, recently gave a scathing speech aimed at the government of the country. In his opinion, the country’s over-regulation created many problems in the development of their coronavirus vaccine candidate, BriLife. As a result, its progress was hindered.

On Monday, he also spoke at the Knesset regarding this over-regulation. He stated that the institute would have been on its phase III of the trials if not for the complex regulations imposed on them. The head pointed out that now the vaccine candidate of Israel will be ready in April. 

According to him, the team involved in developing the vaccine candidate had to face many difficulties and overcome numerous hurdles. Shapira informed that a representative, belonging to a respectable regulatory institute, had observed their troubles and said that the path that the institute was on was far too complex.

Refusing to reveal more details, the head of the Israel Institute for Biological Research, stated that those responsible for imposing these regulations will understand. 

Shapira went on to confirm that the IIBR has successfully completed trials for its Phase I. In fact, they achieved this milestone five days ago. Phase II is all set to take place in various medical centers all over the country. It is expected to begin within the next ten days and includes nearly 1,000 volunteers. 

The head stated that his institute has the resources and ability to manufacture nearly 15 million doses of their coronavirus vaccine candidate, which will benefit the citizens of the country. He also pointed out that the IIBR has set a high standard for itself when it comes to professional and ethical commitment. 

According to him, the coronavirus candidate produced by the institute is not only safe but, scientifically sound as well. Shapira expressed confidence in the fact that the people will believe in the BriLife vaccine. He further revealed that his team has approached various countries all over the world to try and get them to participate in the vaccine candidate’s Phase III trials. He added that over 30,000 volunteers will be required for this stage. 

Talking more about BriLife, the head of the institute revealed that during Phase I, the candidate was tested on four different animal models and almost 80 humans. The results had shown only some mild side effects and nothing life-threatening or severe. 

While talking, Shapira did not shy away from critiquing the decision-makers who had sought to pre-purchase vaccine candidates in bulk from overseas. He claimed that people have a tendency to respect those companies whose mother tongues is either English or Russian. He sarcastically remarked that even though the people in his company speak Hebrew, the country has a vaccine candidate of their own which is free from economic considerations. 

Shapira expressed that he would be grateful if he received the same sympathy and support that is granted to huge companies. 

Just recently, Israel entered into contractual agreements to receive millions of doses of coronavirus vaccines from three US-based companies. 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *