The Indian Council of Medical Research on Thursday said that they are hoping to launch the first Indian-made vaccine for Covid-19 by the August 15, this year. Its development is still in progress. ICMR is developing it in partnership with Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech for public health use.
As per reports, the information of the launch has been revealed in a letter written as internal communication by ICMR to Bharat Biotech. In the letter the ICMR has requested for fast-tracking of the vaccine aiming it to launch by August 15.
“It is envisaged to launch the vaccine for public health use latest by 15th August 2020 after completion of all clinical trials. BBIL is working expeditiously to meet the target, however, final outcome will depend on the cooperation of all clinical trial sites involved in this project,” the letter says.
The letter stated that the vaccine has been derived from a strain of SARS-COV-2 isolated by ICMR National Institute of Virology Pune. ICMR and Bharat Biotech are working jointly for both its pre-clinical and clinical developments.
India is also working towards using Plasma Therapy for treatment of Covid-19. With this aim, the first plasma bank of India has been set up in New Delhi.
(Feature image source: deutschland.de)
