COVAXIN: India's first COVID-19 vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech gets nod for human trials

Hyderabad, June 30: COVAXIN, India's first vaccine against the novel coronavirus, developed by Bharat Biotech, Hyderbad-based biotechnology firm in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV), gets nod from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to conduct Phase I and 2 human trials.

According to the vaccine maker, human clinical trials of the experimental COVID-19 are scheduled to start across the country in July 2020. A note issued by the company says, "The SARS-CoV-2 strain was isolated in NIV, Pune and transferred to Bharat Biotech. The indigenous, inactivated vaccine was developed and manufactured in Bharat Biotech's BSL-3 (Bio-Safety Level 3) High Containment facility located in Genome Valley, Hyderabad, India."

However, there are no details on how long the next steps are likely to take and when the vaccine is likely to be launched in the market and the price of it.

Several drugs have been tested for their effectiveness against COVID-19, the disease resulting from coronavirus, but they have fallen short. Gilead Sciences' remdesivir has been found to be effective in reducing the time spent in hospital by infected patients, but a cure is yet to find.

For over two decades, Bharat Biotech has been in the vanguard of creating breakthrough vaccines & therapeutics for challenging diseases.

Bharat Biotech is an Indian Biotechnology company, headquartered in Hyderabad, India. The company was founded by Indian scientist, Krishna Ella. Bharat Biotech has one of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturing plants of its kind in Asia-Pacific.

The company had earlier launched India's first indigenously developed cell culture H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine under the brand name HNVAC.