Indian immunobiological drugs manufacturer, Serum Institute of India (SII), has announced that it has developed a vaccine in collaboration with American biotechnology company, Codagenix, against COVID-19, may be ready by early 2022
SII stated the vaccine is expected to move on to the trial phase in humans within the next six months. The company's CEO Adar Poonawalla said that China could be a potential site for clinical trials.
First to progress to the pre-clinical trial phase
"While several efforts have been made to finding a cure as well as in controlling the outbreak, this is the first vaccine-virus strain to progress to the pre-clinical trial phase," the company said, as quoted by PTI.
Poonawalla said that the strain of the vaccine-virus is similar to the novel coronavirus and can induce a powerful immune response. He also added that SII is seeking potential partners across the globe as in talks with several companies. The vaccine has already been tested in mice and primates.
A vaccine within three hours?
Recently, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, an American biotech company had announced that it had developed a vaccine within three hours after the genetic sequence was made available to the world on January 9, 2020, using an inhouse algorithm. It collaborated with, a Chinese company, Beijing Advaccine,
The firm which also developed vaccines for three other deadly diseases—Zika, Ebola and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), said that it will begin human trials as early as summer.
18 months away, says WHO
Shortly after announcing the coronaviruses' new name, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that the first vaccine against the pathogen was 18 months away. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO tweeted: "Researchers from around the world are meeting at @WHO for a research & innovation forum on #COVID19. The first vaccine could be ready in 18 months, In the meantime, there's a lot we can do to prevent transmission and prepare for any further spread."
