NEXT STEP: The government should see this as a ‘time of war’ and loosen regulations for experiments and clinical trials, the university’s Chan Chang-chuan said

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 28, 2020
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

Public health experts at National Taiwan University (NTU) yesterday urged the government to loosen drug testing regulations and direct more funds to the development of medication and a vaccine for COVID-19.

As some countries are entering a “post-COVID-19 period,” the development of medication and a vaccine are key to ending the pandemic, NTU College of Public Health dean Chan Chang-chuan (詹長權) said in the college’s 12th weekly report on COVID-19.

Aside from infected people who have produced antibodies, the majority of the global population does not have antibodies for the novel coronavirus, so developing a vaccine has become an urgent problem for governments, he said.

Chan said that the government should view the global competition to develop testing kits, medication and vaccines as if “in time of war,” and loosen the regulations for experiments and clinical trials — for example by allowing the omission of certain steps, allowing some procedures to be conducted simultaneously, or giving advanced approval.    [FULL  STORY]