New Delhi / IBNS: In a ray of hope, the Indian coronavirus vaccine called ‘Covaxin’, developed through Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Medical Research Council of India (ICMR), has been approved for the third of the clinical trials.
The Hyderabad-based vaccine manufacturer had requested the Comptroller-General for Medicines of India (DCGI) on 2 October to approve phase 3 trials for their COVID-19 candidate vaccine.
In their third-phase trials, they would be conducted on 28,500 subjects over the age of 18 at nine sites, adding Delhi, Mumbai, Patna and Lucknow.
In a report last month, Bharat Biotech said the animal examined showed that the candidate vaccine is able to generate strong immune responses to highly infectious coronavirus.
“In short, the candidate vaccine was found to generate physically powerful immune responses. For example, the prevention of infections and diseases in primates is the maximum exposure to the live SARS-CoV-2 virus,” Bharat Biotech published on its website.
In addition to Covaxin, another candidate vaccine developed through Zydus Cadila Ltd is also in phase 2 of human trials.
The Pune-based Indian Serum Institute, which has partnered with AstraZeneca to manufacture the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine candidate, is conducting phase 2 and 3 human clinical trials with the candidate in India.