Vice President discusses status of indigenous vaccine against Covid-19

Bharat Biotech Chairman and Managing Director Dr Krishna Ella and Joint Managing Director Suchitra Ella called on the Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu in Hyderabad on Friday.

The discussion revolved around the status of the indigenous vaccine against COVID-19 and the plans to make it available in India and the rest of the world.

'Covaxin' is being developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) - National Institute of Virology (NIV).

The indigenous, inactivated vaccine is being developed and manufactured at Bharat Biotech's BSL-3 (Bio-Safety Level 3) bio-containment facility.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Bharat Biotech last month as part of a three-city tour to conduct an extensive review of the vaccine development and manufacturing process. He reviewed the status of Covaxin. Seventy Ambassadors and High Commissioners from several countries had visited Bharat Biotech facility at Genome Valley, Hyderabad earlier this month.

An official release said that during the interaction, the Vice President stressed the importance of public-private partnership in coming out with indigenous world-class products and lauded the collaboration between the ICMR and Bharat Biotech.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi had on Thursday invited volunteers for the Phase III clinical trial of 'Covaxin'.

The ICMR has said the indigenous vaccine against COVID-19 has drawn global attention. "Encouraging Phase I and Phase II Covaxin trial results have paved the path for Phase III clinical trial in India, which is currently ongoing at 22 sites," it said in a tweet.

According to the Health Ministry, there are six vaccine candidates in various stages of the clinical trial in the country. Three vaccine candidates are in the pre-clinical trial stage.