COVID-19: NIH and DBT to meet this week; review on vaccine candidates likely

As a part of a joint vaccine development programme to review the progress on vaccine candidate for COVID 19, experts from the National Institute of Health (NIH), and India's department of biotechnology will meet this week.

The Indo-U.S. Vaccine Action Program (VAP) is a bilateral program, which supports a broad spectrum of activities relating to immunization and vaccine-related research. The program was designed to encompass laboratory-based research, epidemiological studies, field trials, vaccine quality control, and delivery of vaccines. 

India’s vaccine development programme is led by the department of biotechnology which has funded five Indian companies for their work on readying a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2.

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ICMR aims to launch vaccine by August 15

Meanwhile, The medical research body aims to launch the vaccine for public use by August 15, 2020 after completing all clinical trials. BBIL is working efficiently to meet the target, however, the final outcome depends on the cooperation of all clinical trial sites involved in this project, the ICMR said.

In view of the public health emergency due to Coronavirus pandemic, the selected institutes are strictly advised to fast track the trial process and ensure that the subject enrolment begins in the first week of July.

Apart from Odisha, institutes selected for the clinical trial are located in Visakhapatnam, Rohtak (Haryana), New Delhi, Patna, Belgaum (Karnataka), Nagpur (Maharashtra), Gorakhpur, Kanpur (UP), Kattankulathur (Tamil Nadu), Hyderabad, Arya Nagar and Goa.

Speaking to Republic, Bharat Biotech's MD had spoken about the difficulty in getting adequate number of people to sign up for the Clinical trial, though since then, the ICMR appears to have stepped in and expanded the scope significantly. The stakes are high both health-wise and economically to release the first Covid vaccine. Not only are many countries in the race, but since India is one of the largest producers of vaccines globally, if an Indian vaccine was to be licensed, the scope for exports would be a game-changer.

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