The Center will bring more than 60 foreign mission chiefs to Bharat Biotech and Biological E, the two biotech companies working on a Covid-19 vaccine tomorrow, people familiar with the matter said Tuesday. Those envoys would be briefed on the progress made by scientists working on the vaccine.
Bharat Biotech is among the three companies that have applied for emergency authorization from the government for the use of the Covid vaccine. The Serum Institute of India and Pfizer India are the other two.
Bharat Biotech, which has developed an Indian vaccine in collaboration with the government’s National Virology Institute, is currently in phase III trials with more than 25,000 volunteers. It uses an inactivated virus to elicit an immune response in people.
The Foreign Ministry had previously proposed including the Pune-based Serum Institute of India in the itinerary, but later dropped the idea.
The Foreign Ministry had last month briefed diplomats from 190 countries and international organizations on measures taken by India to control the disease. He had then promised to organize visits to institutions involved in vaccine research and development programs related to Covid-19.
The union’s health secretary, Rajesh Bhushan, told reporters that a decision could be made on the application for approval of the three vaccines in a few weeks.
In total, six vaccines, including Biological E., are in the testing phase.
Biological E, one of the two companies that interacted with the diplomats, is among six candidate vaccines currently in testing in India. Biological E has begun the first phase 1 and 2 human trials of its Covid-19 candidate vaccine.
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