Battling Covid-19: Six vaccine candidates in clinical trial stage, 3 in pre-clinical stage in India

New Delhi: As the country anxiously waits for roll-out of Covid-19 vaccine, the Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Tuesday said that altogether there are 6 COVID-19 vaccine candidates in different clinical trial stages being developed by Indian manufacturers.

Apart from this, 3 COVID-19 vaccine candidates are in pre-clinical stage of which one is in the pre-development stage being researched by Aurobindo Pharma, the official said.

“6 vaccines are in the clinical trial stage. And there are three vaccines in the pre-clinical stage. Some of them may get licensed in the coming weeks but we cannot foretell at this moment of time because licensing is the domain of the national regulator the Drugs Controller General of India,” Bhushan said at a press conference organised by the Health Ministry here.

“These vaccines are of two to three doses. Even after vaccination, COVID-19 precautions must be followed as advised by the scientists,” he noted.

Serum Institute of India

Chimpanzee Adenovirus platform and by the Serum Institute of India (SII) in Pune. The collaborative company is Astrazeneca. “The regulator had allowed the phase 2 and 3 clubbed clinical trials of the vaccine to them and they have applied for emergency use authorisation,” he said.

Covaxin by Bharat Biotech

On Covaxin, he said that this vaccine is on an inactivated virus platform. “This is being manufactured by Bharat Biotech International Limited, Hyderabad in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The vaccine is in phase 3 trials. They have also applied for emergency use authorisation.”

ZyCoV-D by Cadila Healthcare

The third vaccine candidate is ZyCoV-D which is based on the DNA platform. It is being manufactured by Cadila Healthcare Ltd, Ahmedabad. Their collaborator is the Department of Biotechnology. It is in phase 3 of the trials.

Sputnik V by Dr Reddy’s lab

The Health Secretary further said that the fourth vaccine candidate is the Russian vaccine (Sputnik V) which is based on the human adenovirus platform. It is being manufactured by Dr Reddy’s lab in Hyderabad. Their collaborator is Gamaleya National Centre, Russia. Their phase 3 trial will begin next week.

NVX-CoV2373 by Serum Institute

The fifth vaccine candidate is NVX-CoV2373 which is based on the protein sub-unit platform. It is being developed by the Serum Institute of India, Pune. Their collaborator is Novavax and the phase 3 trial of this vaccine is under consideration in India.

Antigen-based vaccine by Biological E Ltd

The sixth vaccine candidate is a recombinant protein antigen-based vaccine. It is being manufactured by Biological E Ltd, Hyderabad. Their collaborator is Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. The pre-clinical animal studies have concluded for this vaccine, he said.

“Vaccination efforts of the country are guided by the principles regarding the same espoused by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15 from the ramparts of red fort,” Health Secretary said.

“India has 7,000 cases per million which is one of the lowest in the world,” he added.

1st vaccination begins in UK

Meanwhile, first vaccinations against the coronavirus began in UK today.

Taking to Twitter, Johnson said, “Today the first vaccinations in the UK against COVID-19 begin. Thank you to our NHS, to all of the scientists who worked so hard to develop this vaccine, to all the volunteers – and to everyone who has been following the rules to protect others. We will beat this together.”

On December 2, UK had authorised use of Pfizer and BioNTech for emergency purposes.

According to the latest data by the Johns Hopkins University, globally 6.7 crore people have tested positive for coronavirus and 15 lakh deaths have been reported so far.