Indian Company Zydus Cadila Starts Clinical Trial for COVID 19 Vaccine

The Indian pharmaceutical behemoth, Zydus Cadila, has started the Phase I, II clinical trials for its COVID 19 vaccine. The pharma giant had received approval from the Drug Controller General of India for clinical trials earlier this month. The company has started its trial with 1048 subjects by intradermal injection route.

The Clinical Trial Registry has confirmed that the trial will include two criteria – inclusion and exclusion. Further, inclusion is divided into two phases – In Phase I, the company has selected healthy males and females between the ages of 18-55 years whereas, in Phase II, healthy volunteers of either gender aged 12 years or above will be selected. The company has already taken approval from the subjects and also from the parents of the minor subjects.

The next is the exclusion criterion which is also divided into two phases – In Phase I, it will be based on the safety of the COVID 19 vaccine candidates by intradermal route whereas in Phase II, the immunogenicity will be tested. While the Phase I will continue from Day 0 to Day 84, the Phase II will continue from Day 0 to Day 224.

Vaccines for COVID 19 in India

Indian Council of Medical Research has already stated that two vaccines will be tested for human trials by the end of this month. One of these vaccines has been developed by Serum Institute of India whereas the other has been developed by Bharat Biotech. This vaccine by Zydus Cadila is going to enter the trial phase also. ICMR has already asserted that an effective vaccine for COVID 19 treatment will be available positively by August 2020.

Month: Current Affairs - July, 2020