India's first coronavirus vaccine candidate Covaxin will be tested on more than 1,000 people in two phases. The ICMR and Bharat Biotech India Limited, a private pharmaceutical company, and the National Institute of Virology have jointly developed Covaxin. In the phase 1 trial, Covaxin will be tested on 375 people, and in the second phase, Bharat Biotech might enroll 750 people.
The Central Drug Standard Control Organisation--the office of Drug Controller General of India (DGCI)-has granted permission to initiate Phase-1 and Phase-2 clinical trial of Covaxin. A total of 12 institutes have been selected to conduct clinical trials for Covaxin, including AIIMS Delhi.
Zydus Cadila has also got approval from the DCGI for human clinical trials for ZyCov-D, its vaccine candidate.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are 19 vaccine candidates currently in the clinical evaluation as of July 6. Out of the 19 vaccine candidates, AstraZeneca/University of Oxford, and Sinovacare are the two developers that have entered Phase 3 trials.
The University of Oxford and AstraZeneca's phase 3 clinical trial involves assessing how the vaccine works in a large number of people over the age of 18. Adult participants will receive one or two doses of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine. According to Oxford University, "ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 is made from a virus (ChAdOx1), which is a weakened version of a common cold virus (adenovirus) that causes infections in chimpanzees". If the trial is successful, then the Oxford Vaccine Group expects to launch the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of this year.
China's Sinovac Biotech has also begun Phase 3 trial of its potential coronavirus vaccine in Brazil. Sinovac said the study will be done in partnership with Brazilian vaccine producer Instituto Butantan. Sinovac initiated the development of the vaccine candidate in late January and is preparing a coronavirus vaccine plant, which it hopes will be ready this year.
Pfizer, Novavax, Cadila Healthcare Limited, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Moderna, and CanSino Biological are the other firms that are on the Phase 2 clinical trial, according to the WHO. Meanwhile, Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist at the WHO, said there will be one or more safe and efficacious vaccines by next year.
Also read: Coronavirus vaccine: Sinovac starts phase-3 trials for potential candidate in Brazil
Also read: Coronavirus vaccine: Covaxin human trials on 375 people to begin next week