New Delhi (NVI): India’s first coronavirus vaccine ‘Covaxin’ may be launched by August 15, with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) fast-tracking efforts in partnership with Bharat Biotech International Limited.
Balram Bhargava, Director-General of ICMR, in a letter to the institutes, said, “The vaccine is derived from a strain of SARS-CoV-2 isolated by ICMR-National Institute of Virology, Pune. ICMR and BBIL are jointly working for the pre-clinical as well as clinical development of this vaccine.”
In this regard, ICMR has selected a dozen institutes for clinical trials of the indigenous COVID-19 vaccine.
Bhargava asked these institutes to step up clinical trials as it is “priority project” monitored at the topmost level of the government.
“It is envisaged to launch the vaccine for public health use latest by August 15, 2020 after completion of all clinical trials,” ICMR stated in the letter.
The final outcome will depend on the cooperation of all clinical trial sites involved in this project, the ICMR told the institutes, advising them to speed up approvals related to clinical trials and ensure that subjects are enrolled starting this week.
“Non-compliance will be viewed very seriously. Therefore, you are advised to treat this project on highest priority and meet the given timelines without any lapse,” said ICMR’s letter.
Furthermore, the institutes selected for the clinical trial are in Visakhapatnam, Rohtak, New Delhi, Patna, Belgaum (Karnataka), Nagpur, Gorakhpur, Kattankulathur (Tamil Nadu), Hyderabad, Arya Nagar, Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) and Goa.
-CHK
