India’s First COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Cleared For Human Trials

Bharat Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for human trials, making it India’s first domestic candidate to get the green light from the government’s drug regulator as cases surge in a country with more than 1.3 billion people.

Developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, in association with ICMR (Indian Council for Medical Research), COVAXIN is an inactivated vaccine, created from a strain of the infectious SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Krishna Ella, chairman and managing director of Bharat Biotech, said: “We are proud to announce Covaxin, India’s first indigenous vaccine for Covid-19.

Human clinical trials are scheduled to start across the country in July for the vaccine. The drug promises high effectiveness in preclinical studies, demonstrating extensive safety and effective immune responses.

However, No vaccine has yet been approved for commercial use against the illness caused by the new coronavirus, but over a dozen vaccines from more than 100 candidates globally are being tested on humans.