More than 100 Friendly Nations experts qualified for the Indian Covid-19 Vaccine Clinical Trials

More than 100 experts from friendly neighboring countries have been qualified to improve their country’s capacity to promote phase 3 clinical trials of the Indian COVID-19 vaccine, a senior biotechnology department official said on Wednesday. Speaking at a webinar organized by the Indian Business Confederation, Alka Sharma, a consultant with the Department of Biotechnology, said the Alliance project for Advancing Clinical Trials (PACT) is being carried out in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs.

“…The PACT is under the initiative of the Department of Biotechnology and Ministry of External Affairs to strengthen capacities for facilitating phase-3 clinical trials of Indian COVID vaccine in friendly neighboring countries,” she said. Under this program, two training modules have been completed successfully so far.

She said that this training program was attended by over 100 participants from Afghanistan, Bhutan, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. She added that the plan is to provide the next round of training programs with more participants. Thirty organizations are currently directly engaged in the development of the coronavirus vaccine, she said. Six vaccines are in separate phases of clinical trials, four of which, she added, are being produced indigenously. Sharma said Bharat Biotech’s therapeutic pathways are in phase 3, while the one being developed by Zydus Cadila is in phase 2 clinical trials.

The Biological E vaccine candidate is in phase 1 clinical trials, while Gennovabiopharmaceuticals are in the process of being approved at different stages. Steps 2 and 3 clinical trials of the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine are also being performed by the Serum Institute of India (SII). Similarly, Dr. Reddy’s Labs is running clinical phase 2 and 3 trials for the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, she said.