Bharat Biotech plans on taking Covaxin to the global market.
An Executive of Bharat Biotech, an Indian company, recently told that more than 10 international countries are showing an interest in the company’s potential COVID-19 vaccine. Presently the company is in discussion with the interested partners. Bharat Biotech is developing the vaccine in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
This week the company received initial approval for conducting the late-stage trials for the candidate vaccine, Covaxin, from the government of India.
Sai Prasad, Executive Director, Bharat Biotech, said that the vaccine’s first two trials were carried out on about 1,000 people, and the vaccine was found to be safe for use without any major adverse events. 90% of the volunteers developed antibodies for the novel virus after the first two trials.
He added that the company is focusing on the last-stage of vaccine trials now, along with seeking potential foreign partners. He added that the company is recently in discussions with more than 10 foreign countries who are interested in this vaccine candidate that is developed in collaboration with the Indian Council for Medical Research.
The company is talking about partnerships with some of the foreign countries
to conduct clinical trials and for the introduction of the vaccine, while in some countries, the company is talking about manufacturing the vaccine locally.The names of the interested countries were not mentioned by the Executive Director, but he dropped a hint that the countries are located in Asia, Central Asia, South America, and Eastern Europe.
He added that the company plans on enrolling 25,000 to 26,000 volunteers from about 12-14 states in India for the third-stage trials.
Zydus Cadila, India, is in mid-stage trials of their vaccine candidate, while Serum Institute, Pune, India, is making potential vaccines from AstraZeneca, Codagenix Inc, and Novavax, and also developing the company’s own vaccine.
India ranks second-highest in the number of coronavirus reported cases, near about 78 lakhs, and 100,000 reported death cases.
Bharat Biotech plans on taking Covaxin to the global market.
