Philippines says engaging Western pharma firms, despite Duterte anger

By Neil Jerome Morales
MANILA, Sept 16 (Reuters) - The Philippines continues to
negotiate supply deals with a wide range of COVID-19 vaccine
makers, its health ministry said on Wednesday, despite its
president scolding Western firms and saying he wanted Chinese
and Russian vaccines.
The Philippines, which has the most infections and second
highest number of deaths in Southeast Asia, is potentially a
large market for vaccine makers with its population of 107
million.
"We are still continuously negotiating," Health
Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told Reuters in a text
message. "No vaccine manufacturers have 'formally' asked for
pre-payment, though there have been insinuations during the
discussions."
President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday lashed out at Western
vaccine manufacturers for seeking advance payment or a
reservation fee for vaccines that are still under clinical
trials. He pledged to prioritise Russia or China, countries that he
frequently praises during his trademark verbal tirades at the
West.
His government has talked to a number of potential vaccine
suppliers, including those of Russia and China plus U.S.
drugmaker Pfizer Inc PFE.N and Moderna Inc MRNA.O . It plans
to meet Australian biotech giant CSL Ltd CSL.AX . A Philippine procurement law forbids payment of goods well
ahead of delivery and before a product's specifications are
finalised, putting the country at a disadvantage amid expected
high global vaccine demand. The Philippines has recorded nearly
270,000 coronavirus infections and over 4,600 deaths.
In contrast, countries like the United States and the United
Kingdom have committed to buy hundreds of millions of doses even
as vaccines are still under late-stage trials.
The Philippines has joined a World Health Organization-led
vaccine trials and allocation plan and is promoting itself as a
site for pharma firms' phase 3 trials, Vergeire said.
"We are doing all efforts to put us in a position to access
these vaccines," Vergeire told a regular news conference.