New Delhi: Serum Institute of India’s trial for ‘Covishield’ vaccine developed by the University of Oxford started on Tuesday, with the first patients screened by Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University (BVDU) Medical College and Hospital in Pune. So far, seven hospitals, including BVDU, of the 17 sites have received ethics committee approval, according to the government’s clinical trial registry. Serum Institute, which is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, had in June signed an agreement with British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to supply an additional 1 billion doses, principally for low- and middle-income countries. Pune-based Serum Institute is the third firm to conduct human trials of a covid-19 vaccine in India after Bharat Biotech (for Covaxin) and Zydus Cadila (for ZyCoV-D) started phase I and II trails last month. Interim data from a clinical study published in The Lancet journal last month showed that the Oxford vaccine candidate was safe and provided dual immunity against the highly infectious respiratory disease.

Source: Mint August 25, 2020 14:37 UTC