Latest Update on India’s Vaccine for COVID-19
Currently, six Indian companies are working on a vaccine to control coronavirus in order to find a quick prevention for this global pandemic to stop causing any more casualties.
"There is an urgent and pressing need to develop a safe and efficacious vaccine that can prevent the spread of this deadly virus. Our researchers are working to bring a speedy solution to this most devastating outbreak in recent times," Zydus Group Chairman Pankaj Patel said.
While Zydus Cadila is working on two vaccines, Serum Institute, Biological E, Bharat Biotech, Indian Immunologicals, and Mynvax are developing one vaccine each, Gagandeep Kang, Executive Director of the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad, told PTI.
Generally, vaccines take several months to pass the different stages of testing, and then approvals also take time. For Covid-19, we don't expect a vaccine to come in this year, agreed Rakesh Mishra, director of the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad.
“The immediate focus is on the human clinical trials of the recombinant Bacilius Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine that is considered an immunity booster”, said Department of Biotechnology (DBT) Secretary Renu Swarup.
As for the timing of the vaccine is concerned; Renu Swarup further says, “Vaccine development is a priority for us. The industry is in a more advanced staged and many of them are working with international collaborators. All vaccine development projects are in Phase 1 (animal studies phase). Our own Indian companies are looking at by the end of this year to get some sort of an idea as to whether they can move forward. Clearly, we know that the vaccine is at least 12 to 18 months away.”
The trials for the immunity booster BCG, which has been supported by DBT. The phase III clinical trials study of the recombinant BCG vaccine (VPM1002) planned in high-risk population is being carried out by the Serum Institute of India Private Limited, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer.
As part of a vaccine development project, the phases involved are;
- Pre-clinical development
- Clinical development
- Regulatory review and approvals
- Manufacturing
- Quality control
Clinical development also comprises of three to four phases. This involves trials among small groups to test safety of the vaccine, then there is one which looks at the dosage aspects, the third phase looks at the efficacy of the vaccine, and eventually there is a trial in a large group.
Vaccine testing typically begins with animals in the lab before going on to- different stages of human clinical trials.
“The human testing phase is composed of many phases," Sreekumar told PTI. “Phase 1 trials are small-scale, usually involving few participants, to assess whether the vaccine is safe for humans. Phase 2 trials often involve several hundred subjects, and mainly evaluate the efficacy.”
As for the China originated testing kits, the Rajasthan government recently stopped using those rapid testing kits for coronavirus after they delivered inaccurate results.
The state's health minister Raghu Sharma said the kits gave only 5.4 per cent accurate results against the expectation of 90 per cent accuracy and therefore the kits were of no benefit, adding that the Indian Council of Medical Research has been informed about the issue. "We have written to ICMR asking what to do. We are waiting for their response. The rapid test results were negative even on patients who tested positive in lab tests," the minister said.
While India is collaborating with the World Health Organization (WHO) and a few other international agencies to accelerate technology transfer for developing a vaccine research in the country, we still need to wait until the vaccine finally arrives for our rescue. Meanwhile, stay indoors, stay safe!
