Egypt is to start clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine, EgyVax.

The announcement was made by the Egyptian minister of higher education and scientific research, Khaled Abdel Ghaffar.

He said the trials represented “a very important development” and a major success for Egypt in fighting the coronavirus pandemic, not only through its work with international organizations over the past two years but as a result of the efforts of a number of Egyptian scientists and researchers.

Minister also pointed out that manufacturing the vaccine locally would provide a considerable amount of hard currency for the country.

Riad Armanious, chief executive officer of Eva Pharma, Egypt’s strategic partner in the manufacture of the vaccine, said work was underway to build vaccine manufacturing capabilities within Eva Pharma industrial complexes, allowing the firm to make approximately 1.6 million doses per day.

He pointed out that the results of pre-clinical laboratory studies on animals showed an increase in antibodies in the blood against COVID-19 after two doses of EgyVax, adding that monitoring of side effects, blood analyses, and chest X-rays gave promising indications about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.

The Egyptian vaccine would be produced to meet the standards of the World Health Organization, and the US Food and Drug Administration, allowing it to be exported around the world.