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The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) has started evaluating the available data submitted by Covid-19 vaccine developer Moderna "to ensure expeditious review", the authority said on Wednesday.
HSA has been in discussions with the American biotechnology company on the submission plan for its vaccine.
"Moderna has started submitting initial data and will continue to roll in data as soon as they become available as agreed with HSA," said an HSA spokesman.
This rolling submission process allows companies to submit data to the authorities while the trials are being conducted, instead of submitting data only at the end of each phase of the trial.
HSA had earlier explained that such rolling submissions allow regulators to conduct simultaneous real-time review of the data available to date, instead of waiting for all the data to be gathered before submission.
Moderna chief executive Stephane Bancel had said on Tuesday that the company is in talks with HSA to approve the use of the firm's vaccine here.
If all goes well, the first batch of vaccines could arrive here as early as this month, he said.
Mr Bancel also noted that the Singapore Government has been proactive in ordering doses for people here, although he declined to provide figures.
"The Singapore Government, very early back in the summer, has been ordering doses for its inhabitants, and has been ordering more recently with more data," Mr Bancel said in the video interview on Tuesday.
Last month, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said Singapore would work on securing a portfolio of Covid-19 vaccines to cater to different segments of the population instead of relying on just one vaccine.
But the HSA spokesman declined to say if other firms had also approached the authority to approve the use of other Covid-19 vaccines here, citing proprietary reasons.
The Straits Times
