An initial 500 Filipino patients will be asked to participate in clinical trials to be conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) to find a cure for COVID-19, the Department of Health (DOH) announced today.

“Initially, 500 patients are included in the trial that will happen in 20 hospitals here in the Philippines,” DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a virtual presser in English and Filipino.

Vergeire added that that the selected hospitals will not just be from Metro Manila but in different parts of the country, which includes Baguio General Hospital and the Southern Phil Medical Center in Davao City.

Trials may start as early as Friday if documentary requirements are completed, she said.

“[We have plans on starting] even if the shipment of the drugs is yet to arrive, once we have all the documents in order, our proponents can start the trial tomorrow,” Vergeire said.

“We will first use whatever stocks of medicine we have here in the Philippines, and replace it with the shipment from the WHO,” she added, without specifying what those medicines were.

Read: Money, Money, Money: Duterte offers PHP10M reward to Filipino who invents COVID-19 vaccine

The WHO’s Solidarity Trial, which will be conducted in multiple countries, will test the effectivity of four drugs: Remdesivir, Lopinavir and Ritonavir, Lopinavir and Ritonavir with Interferon beta-1a, and Chloroquine.

The said drugs were originally made to treat other diseases such as Ebola and malaria. The experimental treatments were prompted by a lack of an available vaccine for COVID-19, which experts have estimated will take about 18 months to make. More than 100 countries have signed for the trials as of Tuesday; drugs will be assigned to participating patients randomly. DOH greenlit the trial treatments on Wednesday and claimed it fit for the country’s COVID-19 patients. “The participation of the Philippines to the WHO ‘Solidarity’ trial has been approved by the [DOH’s] Single Joint Research Ethics Board or SJREB last April 17, in support of the COVID-19 global response,” the WHO said yesterday.SJREB reviews proposed studies to make sure they abide by accepted human ethical standards.Vergeire added that more patients could potentially be added to the treatments as the study “expands.”

Grove: Coconuts Brand Studio

Fast. Funny. Digital. We produce creativity that delights and influences customers. Join forces with us to slay buzzwords, rise above the noise, and sow the seeds of something great.