Phase III clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccine in Odisha hospital soon

Bhubaneswar: Amidst uncertainty looming over getting vaccine for COVID-19, here’s good news as the third and final phase of human clinical trials of Covaxin, country’s indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, will be conducted at a private hospital soon in Odisha.

The third phase of human trials will be carried out at the SUM Hospital in Bhubaneswar.

While the number of COVID-19 positive cases are on rise in the country, the vaccine under clinical trials to neutralize the deadly virus has reached its final stage, informed Dr E Venkata Rao, Principal Investigator of the trial at Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital.

The IMS and SUM Hospital is the only medical institution in Odisha among 19 sites across 10 States in the country selected by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for conducting the human trials of COVID-19 vaccine developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech.

The study will cover 28,500 subjects aged 18 years and above in phase III clinical trials of Covaxin.

The age limit, eligibility criteria and screening process will be relaxed in the third phase of the trials. The volunteers with no comorbidities will be preferable for this final phase. We are also planning to choose volunteers engaged in healthcare sector for conducting trial of the vaccine, Dr Rao said.

The volunteers willing to participate in the trial can register their name at the website www.ptctu.soa.ac.

It is worth mentioning that Bharat Biotech had applied to the Drugs Controller General of India on October 2 seeking permission for third and final phase trials of Covaxin.

The drug regulator’s committee gave its nod to the firm this week to conduct phase III trials for Covaxin after reviewing the data from phase I and II.