ICMR selects SRM MCHRC as clinical trial site for Covid-19 vaccine

SRM MCHRC is the only medical institution to be selected from Tamil Nadu for this purpose

SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre (SRM MCHRC), Kattankulathur, has been selected by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) as a clinical trial site of the country's first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine (BBV152 COVID Vaccine).

According to a college release, SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre is one among the 12 institutions in India to have been chosen by ICMR for undertaking human clinical trials of India's first indigenous vaccine developed by ICMR-National Institute of Virology, Pune. ICMR has partnered with Bharat Biotech International limited, Hyderabad.

SRM MCHRC is also the only medical institution to be selected from Tamil Nadu for this purpose.

Dr. Satyajith Mohapatra, Associate Professor from the Department of Pharmacology, SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre has been chosen as the principal investigator for these clinical trails at SRM MCHRC.

This is the first indigenous vaccine being developed by India and is one of the top priority projects which is being monitored at the topmost level of the government. The government has envisaged launching the vaccine for public health use latest by August 16, 2020, after completion of all clinical trials. This comes at a time when the entire world is reeling under the Covid-19 pandemic and there is a dire urgency to launch the vaccine.