KUALA LUMPUR: The development of local vaccines is currently entering the pre-clinical test on animals, says Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba.
The Science, Technology and Innovation Minister added that the ministry would ensure the manufacturing of the vaccines adhered to the stipulated regulations set.
He also said that under the National Vaccine Development Roadmap, the ministry was diversifying the vaccine development platforms.
"Currently we have two platforms to develop our vaccines, which are through technological transfers with other countries and we also develop our own platform which uses the inactivated virus method.
"Locally, our experts at the Institute of Medical Research (IMR) are also exploring the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) technology," he told the media after the launching event of the National Biotechnology Policy 2.0.
The roadmap together with the Malaysian Genome and Vaccine Institute (MGVI) 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 included vaccine development for other diseases such as cholera, and head and neck cancer.
