Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine moves to final stage of clinical trials, likely to hit market by October

The experimental COVID-19 vaccine has shown very good results in chimpanzees and has already moved on to the next phase of human trials – says Project leader.

By: Longjam Dineshwori | | Updated: June 25, 2020 1:51 pm

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The vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, is coming closer to reality. The University of Oxford and AstraZeneca Plc.’s promising COVID-19 vaccine is already in the final stages of clinical trials. Also Read - COVID-19: What Is The Current Status Of Clinical Trials On Herbal Immunity Boosters?

The ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine, also known as AZD1222, will be given to 10,260 adults and children in the next stage in the UK. The vaccine is already being tested in volunteers in South Africa and Brazil to assess how well it works in protecting people from becoming infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Also Read - All Adults Over 18 Eligible To Receive Covid-19 Vaccine Staring May 1: Government

Project leader professor Adrian Hill, the director of the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford, said that the experimental COVID-19 vaccine is on track for release in October. According to him, the drug has shown very good results in animals (chimpanzees) and has already moved on to the next phase of human trials. Also Read - Lockdown Imposed In Delhi From Tonight Amid COVID-19 Surge: Here's What’s Allowed, What’s Shut

During a webinar of the Spanish Society of Rheumatology, Professor Hill said that they are expecting results of the clinical trials by August or September and the vaccine on the market by October, reported a leading UK daily.

“This vaccine has shown very good results in trials with chimpanzees and has already moved on to the next phase of human trials. One of its advantages at the beginning was to demonstrate in previous tests that similar inoculations, including one last year against a previous coronavirus, were harmless to humans,” the UK daily quoted him as saying.

AstraZeneca is planning to quickly release 30 million doses of the jab, if the final trails prove successful.

One billion doses for India

Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) is reportedly investing $100 million to mass produce one billion doses of Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine for India and other low-and-middle-income countries. Including SII, seven institutions are partnering with Oxford University to manufacture the vaccine.

Brazil is also close to signing a deal to produce Oxford’s vaccine domestically – the country’s acting health minister, Eduardo Pazuello, said on Tuesday.

The Oxford vaccine is made from the ChAdOx1 virus, which is a weakened version of a common cold virus (adenovirus) that causes infections in chimpanzees. The virus has been genetically altered so that it can’t cause infection in humans. Instead it will enable the body to recognise and develop an immune response against the SARS-CoV-2 virus and stop it from entering human cells and thus prevent infection – the researchers explained.

13 experimental vaccines in clinical trials

As per the World Health Organisation’s draft landscape of Covid-19 vaccines, as of June 22, there were 13 experimental vaccines in clinical trials and another 129 under the preclinical evaluation stage.

US-based Moderna Inc. and China’s Sinovac Biotech will begin the final stage trials of their vaccines next month. Meanwhile, Beijing-based China National Biotec Group Co. has received regulatory approval to conduct phase 3 trials of its Covid-19 vaccine in the UAE.

In India, five domestic companies are in the race to develop Covid-19 vaccines in the country.

Delhi-based Panacea Biotec has joined hands with US-based Refana Inc. to develop an inactivated whole virus vaccine
Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech is working on three vaccine candidates
SII has signed agreements with Oxford-AstraZeneca, US-biotech firm Codagenix, and Austria’s Themis Bioscience to develop their vaccine candidates.
Zydus Cadila in Ahmedabad and India Immunologicals in Hyderabad are also working together to develop Covid-19 vaccines.

Published : June 25, 2020 1:43 pm | Updated:June 25, 2020 1:51 pm

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