Human trials of Chikungunya vaccine underway, announces Bharat Biotech

The inactivated virus vaccine was found to be safe and immunogenic in pre-clinical animal testing

Hyderabad-based vaccine manufacturer Bharat Biotech announced on Monday that phase-I of human clinical trials of Chikungunya vaccine was underway in India to evaluate the vaccine's safety, tolerability and immunogenicity.

The placebo-controlled study involving 60 healthy volunteers would test escalating doses of the vaccine in the prime-boost regimen, the company informed.

Bharat Biotech developed the CHIKV vaccine using an isolate of the virus from Indian epidemic. The inactivated virus vaccine developed by the in-house research and development team was found to be safe and immunogenic in pre-clinical animal testing, according to the company.

After successful completion of product development and pre-clinical testing, the candidate's