COVID Vaccine Updates: Get the latest information on coronavirus cure

By Rahul Vaimal, Associate Editor
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COVID Vaccine
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As part of its extensive coverage on the coronavirus vaccine development progress, GCC Business News is providing weekly updates that help you stay on course with the latest revelations on the matter. Our first report in the coverage was updated on the portal last week.

Reference links to earlier articles 

Update on 27 June 2020

Major Developments

Indian vaccine-maker Zydus Cadila receives permission to conduct Phase 1/2 human trials.

The Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila Healthcare Ltd. got the nod from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for human clinical trials in an expedited process following an endorsement by the COVID-19 subject expert committee, considering the emergency and unmet medical need during the pandemic.

Phase 1 and 2 trials are expected to take around three months to be completed.

The Japanese company AnGes begins Phase 1/2 human trials.

Japanese pharmaceuticals company AnGes began its Phase 1/2 human trials with a batch of 30 healthy people at a university hospital in Osaka. The vaccine which is devised to create antibodies that prevent the coronavirus from coupling to human cells. Subjects are expected to be administered with the dosage twice to assess its safety and effectiveness.

The Indian company Bharat Biotech will begin Phase 1/2 trials.

Covaxin, the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech’s attempt towards an effective COVID-19 vaccine, received approvals from Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for human clinical trials last week.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) which developed the vaccine along with the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune, has urged the organization to have the vaccine ready for general use by August 15. The firm has reserved its comment on the matter.

The Australian company Vaxine launched a Phase I trial.

Adelaide-based company Vaxine Pty Ltd which has developed COVAX-19 was given permission to conduct human trials last week, has begun its Phase 1  trials at the Royal Adelaide Hospital on a batch of 40 healthy people aged between 18 and 65.

Each partaker will be given two doses three weeks apart of either COVAX-19 or a placebo (a vaccine look-alike with no medicine)

CanSino Biologics’s vaccine was approved for military use.

China’s Central Military Commission approved the use of the vaccine on military personnel on June 25 for an extended period of 1 year after being satisfied by its inial trial results.

It is not yet clear whether the vaccine, which is co-developed by CanSino and a research institute at the Academy of Military Science (AMS), is mandatory or optional.

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