The head of Philippines Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), Rolando Enrique Domingo, has said that Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech (Nasdaq:SVA) may start late-stage trials of its COVID-19 vaccine in the country as early as November 2020, Reuters news agency reported on Thursday.

This follows the clearing of the initial stage of the country's screening process.

The FDA expects to receive Sinovac's formal application for phase three clinical trials within two weeks and regulators will make a decision after their evaluation.

A Sinovac spokesman has confirmed that materials had been provided to the Philippines in the hope of starting Phase 3 trials, but gave no timeframe.

Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte, repeated on 14 October that he preferred that his country source its COVID-19 vaccines from either China or Russia.

He also said he wanted the entire population vaccinated and has previously said he would not reopen schools until a vaccine was available.

Reportedly, the Philippines is also evaluating COVID-19 vaccines of Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute and Johnson & Johnson's Janssen for late-stage trials and is talking to US pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc as potential suppliers.

The Philippines has 346,536 confirmed COVID-19, the highest in the region, and 6,449 deaths.