- Phase 2 trial of Oxford Covid-19 vaccine will begin at Bharati Vidyapeeth Medical College and Hospital in Pune today
- Around 1,600 people aged above 18 years are likely to participate in the trials.
The Serum Institute of India (SII), which has partnered with AstraZeneca for manufacturing the potential COVID-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford, will start Phase 2 human clinical trials of the candidate this week.
The vaccine provokes a white blood cell response in the human body within 14 days of vaccination and an antibody response within 28 days.
The SII has been permitted for conducting Phases 2 and 3 human clinical trials of the candidate in India. To run the trials, the SII has selected 10 centers across the country, reported News 18.
The vaccine is in its Phase 3 trial in Brazil. In the United Kingdom, Phase 2 and 3 human clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccine candidate is running, while in South Africa, it is in Phase 1 and 2 trials, as per the report.In the earlier trials, volunteers, who were administered with two doses of the vaccine candidate, showed a strong immune response, said the report.The Oxford developed vaccine provokes a white blood cell response in the human body within 14 days of vaccination and an antibody response within 28 days, it suggested.
The report of initiating Phase 2 trials comes a day after the national expert group on vaccine administration for COVID-19 met representatives of leading domestic manufactures. The panel met representatives of SII, Bharat Biotech and Zydus Cadila, on August 17 to take inputs about the present stage of various candidate vaccines as well as their expectations from the government, said the Union Health Ministry.
The meeting was chaired by Niti Aayog member VK Paul and co-chaired by Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan.
