Experts have said that vaccines like Pfizer, which require extreme cold storage, may not be ideal for India and will pose a logistical hurdle. Yet India is still in various stages of talks with at least half a dozen companies, including Pfizer, to manufacture and purchase vaccines for a population of 1.3 billion people. Here are the various vaccine options that provide a ray of hope in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and how beneficial they could be for India.
Oxford-AstraZeneca
Among the vaccine offerings from India, the Oxford-AstraZeneca candidate is the most promising.
The Serum Institute of India had partnered with AstraZeneca to produce and supply 1 billion doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.
According to ICMR, the candidate, locally named Covishield, is the most advanced vaccine in human trials in India with phase 3 trials nearing completion.
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Based on data from the Phase 2/3 trial, the ICMR said promising trial results have given confidence that Covishield could be a realistic solution to the deadly pandemic.
Interim results of the Oxford-AstraZeneca study are expected soon. If successful, it could also start shipping before the end of the year.
How does it work: The University of Oxford vaccine is based on a harmless, weakened version of a common cold virus, or adenovirus, that causes infections in chimpanzees. The vector (the carrier) is derived from adenovirus (ChAdOx1) extracted from chimpanzees. It is genetically engineered so that it does not reproduce in humans.
Pfizer and Moderna
Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, both US-based companies, were among the first in the world to announce successful interim results of their large-scale Phase 3 studies.
On Wednesday, Pfizer announced more results in its ongoing study of the coronavirus vaccine suggesting that the injections are 95% effective in normal adults and 94% effective in the elderly. You are now planning to seek regulatory go-ahead for emergency use.
Similarly, Moderna Inc’s experimental vaccine was found to be 94.5% effective in preventing Covid-19 based on interim data from a late-stage clinical trial.
A deal with Pfizer or Moderna does not appear to be on the horizon for India, but the Moderna vaccine would be the best option as it can be stored at -20 ° C in commercial freezers. Pfizer’s vaccine, on the other hand, requires storage at minus 70 degrees Celsius or below.
Furthermore, since both Pfizer and Moderna are two-dose vaccines, India would need almost 3 billion doses for its entire population. Neither manufacturer is likely to be able to produce such large quantities in the short term. However, India said it is closely monitoring the progress and is in talks with all companies.
How they work: Instead of using the actual Covid virus, both vaccines use their synthetic genetic material, called messenger RNA, or “mRNA,” to train the immune system to fight it.
Covaxin
Covaxin is being indigenously developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR).
The potential vaccine was found to be safe without any major adverse events in the first two stages of trials involving about 1,000 people. The company had said that more than 90% of the participants developed antibodies against the new coronavirus.
The vaccine has now entered phase 3 trials with 26,000 participants. It will be the largest clinical trial conducted for a Covid-19 vaccine in India.
How does it work: Covaxin has been modeled using an inactive version of the virus (Sars-Cov-2) after isolating a strain of the deadly pathogen from an asymptomatic individual at a containment facility in Hyderabad in May.
Sputnik V
India also has an agreement with Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute for its Sputnik V vaccine that claims 92% efficacy, although its results have not been peer-reviewed or published.
At Tuesday’s Brics summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against Covid-19 could be produced in India.
In September, Dr. Reddy’s and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, partnered to conduct clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine and its distribution in India. Dr. Reddy will soon begin combined phase 2 and 3 clinical trials of the Russian vaccine in India. The vaccine should be kept at a temperature of -20 to -70 degrees Celsius.
On August 11, Russia became the first country in the world to register a coronavirus vaccine, called Sputnik V. The vaccine was developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute, while the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is investing in the production and promotion of the vaccine. Foreign.
How does it work: The vaccine is administered in two doses and consists of two serotypes of human adenovirus, each of which carries a new coronavirus S antigen, which penetrates human cells and produces an immune response. It is the so-called viral vector vaccine, which means that it uses another virus to transport the DNA that encodes the necessary immune response to the cells.
Novavax
Novavax, with which India has booked 1 billion doses, is still in phase 3 human trials in the UK with 10,000 volunteers.
A larger Phase 3 trial is scheduled to begin this month in the US If the trials are successful, its vaccine may be commercially available in the second half of 2021. In September, Novavax and the Serum Institute of India signed a agreement to produce up to 2 billion doses per year.
How does it work: Novavax creates its vaccine candidate by growing harmless copies of the coronavirus spike protein in the lab and packaging them into virus-sized nanoparticles.
Zydus cadila
In July, Indian vaccine maker Zydus Cadila began testing a DNA-based vaccine, called ZyCoV-D, delivered via a skin patch. They launched a Phase 2 test on August 6 and are planning a Phase 3 test in December.
Zydus Cadila said that its pegylated interferon alpha-2b, PegiHep, was originally approved for hepatitis C and was released to the Indian market in 2011.
Since then, the safe and effective use of drugs for this product has been demonstrated in thousands of patients, the company said.
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