Unilab, Inc. (Unilab) and Faberco Life Sciences, Inc. (Faberco) signed an agreement to make Covovax™ vaccine developed by Novavax and manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII) available to workers and employees of the private sector, subject to approval by the National Task Force Against COVID-19, the Department of Health (DOH) and the Emergency Use Application (EUA) evaluation by the Philippine Vaccine Expert Panel and the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Novavax is a company based in Maryland, USA and one of the companies supported by the US government under Operation Warp Speed. SII is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer.
Under the agreement, Faberco, which is the distributor of Covovax™ vaccines in the Philippines, appointed Unilab as its authorized partner for the private sector.
“Unilab and Faberco share the same vision and advocacy in terms of providing access to as many Filipinos at the soonest possible time. We are prepared to help the Philippine government in protecting the people by enabling more access to Covid-19 vaccines through the private sector,” says Kishore Hemlani, founder of Faberco.
According to Atty. Jose Maria A. Ochave, Senior Vice President for Social Partnerships of Unilab, “This initiative is not for a business purpose but to help the country secure more vaccine allocations. The vaccines will be made available to the private sector, especially hospitals and essential industries, with the condition that they be made available at no cost to their employees, and, depending on the company’s financial capability, also to their employees’ families and their selected communities. Further, the distribution and administration of the vaccine will be strictly subject to the guidelines set forth by the Department of Health, including those pertaining to pharmacovigilance.”
Faberco is the partner of SII in the Philippines. SII signed a term sheet with the Philippine government to secure 30 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines.