Two Indian COVID-19 Vaccines Receive Nod For Human Trials

The Indian coronavirus vaccines dubbed “Covaxin” and “ZyCov-D” has received approval from the Drug Controller General of India for human testing.

The Ministry of Science and Technology in India said on Sunday, July 5, that the approval for testing of the COVID-19 vaccine in humans “marks the beginning of the end” of the coronavirus pandemic.

Currently, about 140 vaccine candidates are being developed across the world against the novel coronavirus, out of which 11 have entered human trials.

Covaxin is a COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by pharmaceutical firm Bharat Biotech, while ZyCov-D has been produced by pharma giant Zydus Cadila.

“The vaccine for novel coronavirus may be developed anywhere in the world, but without Indian manufacturers involved the production of required quantity is not going to be feasible,” the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry emphasized the role that India plays in global vaccine development and said that 60 percent of vaccine supplies made to UNICEF was manufactured by Indian companies and that the country has emerged as one of the leading vaccine manufacturing hubs in the world in the last few years.

One of the leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates at a global level is AZD1222, which has been developed by the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford. The vaccine has been licensed to biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, which is a multinational pharmaceutical company of British-Swedish origin.

Another COVID-19 vaccine candidate that has entered human trials is MRNA-1273. The vaccine, originally developed by Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute has been licensed to U.S.-based Moderna pharmaceuticals for production.

China has also been spearheading COVID-19 vaccine development. A few of its candidates are being tested in Australia and Brazil. Additionally, Beijing had also tied up with the UAE authorities for the testing of its coronavirus vaccine candidate. Due to a decline in the number of new cases in the country, vaccine testing has been one challenge in China.

In India, six pharmaceutical companies in total are working on the COVID-19 vaccine to end the pandemic.