Serum Institute & Bharat Biotech Forging Ahead to Develop Nasal COVID-19 Vaccine
Until now, there were three candidates for coronavirus vaccine trial in India, however none of them where intranasal vaccine candidates. This is set to change soon, with the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech forging ahead to collaborate with other organizations to develop intra-nasal vaccines for the deadly virus that has claimed more than 1.11 million lives globally. The government has announced that the clinical trials of nasal coronavirus vaccine in India are expected to begin soon by Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech. The government has also informed that the trials of nasal coronavirus vaccine will begin once the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech receive regulatory approval.
At present, there is no nasal trial coronavirus vaccine under trial in India. For the trials of the nasal coronavirus vaccine candidate, Bharat Biotech, which is developing an indigenous COVID-19 vaccine in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), has entered into an agreement with Washington University and St. Louis University.
Harsh Vardhan, Health Minister stated "Bharat Biotech has entered into an agreement with Washington University's School of Medicine under which the company will conduct trials, produce and market an intranasal vaccine for the Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus infection." He then went on to add that Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech will soon begin the late-stage trials of a nasal coronavirus vaccine candidate in India. Harsh Vardhan said the late-stage trial generally involves thousands of participants, sometimes 30,000 to 40,000.
Of the vaccines currently in Phase III trials, all are administered by injection, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Recently, India's Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) stated that they have received renewed approval to conduct late-stage clinical trials in India of the Russian coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V. The DGCI had earlier put a stop on Dr. Reddy's Laboratories conducting clinical trials for the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V, saying the scale of Phase I and II trials of the coronavirus vaccine candidate conducted in Russia was too small.
Earlier, the government had said that India is expected to have a coronavirus vaccine in a few months. It also said that India should be in the process of delivering the coronavirus vaccine to people in the next six months. "We are very much into the vaccine development process. In the next few months at the most we should have a vaccine and in the next six months we should be in the process of delivering the vaccine to the people of India," he said.
This is just when the WHO said the healthy people might have to wait till 2022 to get a coronavirus or COVID-19 vaccine as health workers and those with a higher risk of contracting the infection will be prioritized. "Most people agree, it's starting with healthcare workers, and frontline workers, but even there, you need to define which of them are at highest risk, and then the elderly, and so on," WHO chief scientist Swaminathan stated.
At present, there is no nasal trial coronavirus vaccine under trial in India. For the trials of the nasal coronavirus vaccine candidate, Bharat Biotech, which is developing an indigenous COVID-19 vaccine in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), has entered into an agreement with Washington University and St. Louis University.
Harsh Vardhan, Health Minister stated "Bharat Biotech has entered into an agreement with Washington University's School of Medicine under which the company will conduct trials, produce and market an intranasal vaccine for the Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus infection." He then went on to add that Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech will soon begin the late-stage trials of a nasal coronavirus vaccine candidate in India. Harsh Vardhan said the late-stage trial generally involves thousands of participants, sometimes 30,000 to 40,000.
Of the vaccines currently in Phase III trials, all are administered by injection, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Recently, India's Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) stated that they have received renewed approval to conduct late-stage clinical trials in India of the Russian coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V. The DGCI had earlier put a stop on Dr. Reddy's Laboratories conducting clinical trials for the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V, saying the scale of Phase I and II trials of the coronavirus vaccine candidate conducted in Russia was too small.
Earlier, the government had said that India is expected to have a coronavirus vaccine in a few months. It also said that India should be in the process of delivering the coronavirus vaccine to people in the next six months. "We are very much into the vaccine development process. In the next few months at the most we should have a vaccine and in the next six months we should be in the process of delivering the vaccine to the people of India," he said.
This is just when the WHO said the healthy people might have to wait till 2022 to get a coronavirus or COVID-19 vaccine as health workers and those with a higher risk of contracting the infection will be prioritized. "Most people agree, it's starting with healthcare workers, and frontline workers, but even there, you need to define which of them are at highest risk, and then the elderly, and so on," WHO chief scientist Swaminathan stated.
