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Updated April 23rd, 2020 at 07:12 IST

Two Italian companies racing to develop Covid vaccine, to enter testing phase in September

To deal with the Coronavirus crisis, 2 research laboratories outside of Rome are developing potential COVID-19 vaccines which may enter testing phase in Sep.

Reported by: Manjiri Chitre
COVID
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In the view to curb the Coronavirus crisis, two private research laboratories outside Rome are developing potential COVID-19 vaccines. According to reports, the vaccine could be put to testing as soon as in September. The two companies-- Advent-IRBM and Takis Biotech are reportedly based in Pomezia and are among the few companies who are developing a COVID-19 vaccine. 

According to reports, the Advent-IRBM is set to start an advanced study on the potential vaccine with Jenner institute- part of the Oxford University. Reportedly, the company will be sending samples to the institute on Thursday. Further, the company's research is based on the use of adenovirus-- a mild virus that infects chimpanzees, with a genetic modification that carries part of the Coronavirus.

WHO lists three frontrunners

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has listed three candidate vaccines in its latest draft landscape of COVID-19 vaccines. However, Oxford's ChAdOX1 is yet to be included in the list. According to the WHO draft, out of the 70 candidate vaccines, three are leading from-- CanSino Biological Inc and the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology; Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc; and Moderna Inc along with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in the US.

While, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is batting for a candidate Coronavirus vaccine called ChAdOX1 that is being developed by the researchers at the University of Oxford.

Read: State govt to provide one-time aid of Rs 2K to Andhra fishermen stranded in Guj: CM Jagan

The Coronavirus crisis

First detected in China's Wuhan, at present, there are around 2,637,414 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection across the globe and the disease has led to the death of around 184,204 people. In a ray of hope, around 717,625 people are also reported to have recovered.

Read: Mumbai reports 309 new COVID-19 cases and 10 deaths in 24 hours, city tally at 3754

Meanwhile, in India, according to the latest update of the Union Health Ministry, there are currently a total of 20,471 Coronavirus cases in the country, including 15,859 active cases. While 652 deaths have been reported overall, around 3,960 people have been cured/discharged/migrated.

Read: Trump signs executive order temporarily halting immigration amid coronavirus pandemic

Read: Graph shows the trend of India's Covid cases versus what may have been but for measures

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Published April 23rd, 2020 at 07:12 IST

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