Coronavirus Vaccine Update: Know the Status of These Indian Pharma Companies

Coronavirus Vaccine Update: The coronavirus disease has caused chaos all around the world. So far, coronavirus has infected more than14 million people and has taken lives of over six lakh.

When we look at the numbers, India is the third worst-affected country with more than a million Covid-19 affected cases. Along with other countries, India is also occupied in developing the vaccine for the coronavirus disease. The disease started from Wuhan in China in 2019 and took no time to spread across the world.

We all are very well aware that our country, India, is one of the leading manufacturers of the vaccines and generic medicines. Earlier several Indian companies have made vaccines for a range of disease like polio, meningitis, rotavirus, measles etc.

Below is the list that will make you aware about the challenges and efforts made by Indian companies in manufacturing Covid-19 vaccine:

Bharat Biotech - Covaxin: Covaxin has been developed and manufactured by Bharat Biotech, a Hyderabad based company. Last week Bharat Biotech started human trials of Covaxin. Bharat Biotech received approval to perform phase I and II clinical trial for its vaccine candidate.

Serum Institute of India - AstraZeneca: AstraZeneca vaccine already is undergoing phase III clinical trials. The Serum Institute of India said it will start human trials in India in August 2020 and is hopeful that AstraZeneca vaccine will be available by the year-end.

Zydus Cadila - ZyCoV-D: The pharma major Zydus Cadila said that it is looking forward to completing clinical trials of its Covid-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D in around seven months. Last week Zydus Cadila started clinical trials with the first human dosing.

Panacea Biotec – Unnamed Vaccine: The pharma company Panacea Biotec has a developed a vaccine but didn't name it yet. For this purpose Panacea Biotec has set up a joint venture firm in Ireland with US-based Refana Inc. It has planned to manufacture more than 500 million doses of (unnamed) Covid-19 vaccine. The pharma company further shared that it is expecting more than 40 million doses to be available for delivery by early next year.

Indian Immunologicals Vaccine: It is a secondary of National Dairy Development Board. Indian Immunologicals has signed an agreement with Australia's Griffith University to develop a vaccine for coronavirus.

Mynvax: The company Mynvax is working on a vaccine against coronavirus, which is hopeful to be developed in 18 months. Initially, it will begin with two dozen doses. It has petitioned Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) for Rs 15 crore grant. Currently, it is at the pre-clinical trial level.

Biological E: This vaccine candidate being developed by the company is currently at the pre-clinical trial level.