Russia: Completes clinical trials of Covid-19 vaccine on humans

Russia has become the first country to complete clinical trials of a Covid-19 vaccine on humans, and the results prove the medication’s effectiveness. The total number of Covid-19 cases across the world has crossed the 13-million mark as of Monday. The death toll is alarming as it has gone past 5,60,000.

This pandemic is quite fast-paced hence, pharmaceutical companies and scientists are working hard and overtime to come up with a vaccine as soon as possible. Currently there are over 100 vaccines at various stages of development worldwide, including in India, Britain, China, the US, Russia and Israel. There are at least 21 vaccines currently under key trials, said the World Health Organization (WHO).

China’s Sinovac Biotech, China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) and AstraZeneca’s experimental Covid-19 vaccine are in late-stage Phase III trials. Moderna, AstraZeneca, BioNTech, Novavax, Sinovac, CanSino Biologics and Inovio Pharmaceuticals are some players among those leading the race at present.

The clinical trials for the world’s first vaccine for coronavirus has been successfully completed on volunteers at Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University,Vadim Tarasov, the director of the Institute for Translational Medicine and Biotechnology told Sputnik. They also said that the first group of volunteers would be discharged on Wednesday and the second on July 20.

The university began clinical trials of the vaccine produced by Russia’s Gamalei Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology on June 18.

“Sechenov University has successfully completed tests on volunteers of the world’s first vaccine against coronavirus,” Tarasov said.

Chinese vaccine developer CanSino Biologics is in talks with Russia, Brazil, Chile and Saudi Arabia to launch a Phase III trial of its experimental Covid-19 vaccine, its co-founder has said.

“We are contacting Russia, Brazil, Chile and Saudi Arabia (for the Phase III trial), and it’s still in discussion,” Qiu Dongxu, executive director and co-founder of CanSino, told an anti-viral drug development conference in Suzhou, in eastern China.

He said its Phase III trial was likely to start “pretty soon,” and the company plans to recruit 40,000 participants for the test.

The Standing Committee on Science and Technology was told on Friday that India will have to wait till at least the first quarter of 2021 to get its vaccine for the treatment of Covid-19. Officials cautioned that this is the earliest possible time frame when India can practically have its vaccine.