Hyderabad: Bharat Biotech's coronavirus vaccine gets nod for human trials

Hyderabad: City-based Bharat Biotech on Monday announced that Covaxin, a vaccine candidate for Covid-19 developed by it, has received approvals for Phase I & II human clinical trials across India. Human clinical trials are scheduled to start next month.

The vaccine maker developed Covaxin in collaboration with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology (NIV). The SARS-CoV-2 strain was isolated in NIV, Pune and transferred to Bharat Biotech. The indigenous, inactivated vaccine developed and manufactured in Bharat Biotech's BSL-3 (Bio-Safety Level 3) high containment facility located in Genome Valley, Hyderabad, India.

The Drug Controller General of India - CDSCO, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare granted permission to initiate Phase I & II Human clinical trials after the company submitted results generated from preclinical studies, demonstrating safety and immune response. Human clinical trials are scheduled to start across India in July 2020, the company said.

"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," said Dr Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Biotech.

Expedited through national regulatory protocols, the company accelerated its objective in completing the comprehensive pre-clinical studies. Results from these studies have been promising and show extensive safety and effective immune responses.

Suchitra Ella, Joint Managing Director, Bharat Biotech, said, "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 future pandemics".