Reportedly indian scientists are working hard to find out the vaccine for the deadly coronavirus which is claiming the lives of many people across the globe. COVAXIN, India's first potential Covid19 vaccine has been given DCGI (Drug Controller General of India) approval for Phase I and II human clinical trials that are going to start from July. The vaccine is developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, in association with ICMR (Indian Council for Medical Research). It is said that the SARS-Cov-2 strain was isolated in NIV, pune and transferred to Bharat Biotech. The inactivated vaccine which was developed at Bharat Biotech company, hyderabad has shown positive results in preclinical studies.
Dr krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing director, Bharat Biotech said that, "We are proud to announce COVAXIN, India’s first indigenous vaccine against COVID-19. The collaboration with ICMR and NIV was instrumental in the development of this vaccine. The proactive support and guidance from CDSCO have enabled approvals to this project. Our R&D and Manufacturing teams worked tirelessly to deploy our proprietary technologies towards this platform.”
Mrs suchitra Ella, Joint Managing director quoted that, “Our ongoing research and expertise in forecasting epidemics has enabled us to successfully manufacture a vaccine for the H1N1 pandemic. Continuing our focus on creating the only BSL-3 containment facilities for manufacturing and testing in india, Bharat Biotech is committed to advancing vaccine development as a matter of national importance to demonstrate India’s strength in handling the future pandemics.” Earlier, Bharat Biotech developed vaccines for polio, Rabies, Rotavirus, Japanese Encephalitis, Chikungunya and Zika. In May, the government said that there are about 30 groups who are trying to develop a vaccine and some companies are in late pre-clinical stage. Vijayraghavan, who is also co-chair of the government’s covid-19 task force on scientific development said that "The world is investing in more than 100 vaccines as covid-19 is a new disease and we have to get a vaccine as soon as possible. The entire process will cost $2-3 billion."
