India testing multi-purpose COVID vaccine, nod for trials awaited

Making strides in developing coronavirus vaccine, Indian scientists are testing a multi-purpose vaccine that is effective against leprosy, boosts immunity in the host and is now being tested to tackle coronavirus, according to the chief of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

“With the approval of the DCGI (Drug Controller General of India), we have begun tests on the MW vaccine that has been successfully used against leprosy,” Dr. Shekar Mande, Director General of country’s largest public-funded research institution told NDTV.

Dr. Mande added that the process of making a vaccine and they are waiting for two more approvals, after which trials will be started.

“We will know the results within the next six weeks,” Dr Mande said.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), any vaccine for coronavirus would take at least 12 months or longer to come out in the market.

The US and China are also making fast progress in early-stage testing of potential COVID vaccine.

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China’s CanSino Biologics has begun the second phase of testing its vaccine candidate, China’s Ministry of Science and Technology said Tuesday (April 14).

In the US, a shot made by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc. isn’t far behind with the first person to receive that experimental vaccine returning to a Seattle clinic for a second dose.

On Thursday (April 17), researchers at the state government-run Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre (GBRC) succeeded in decoding the entire genome sequence of the novel coronavirus and identified its three new mutations.

The officials expressed confidence that the findings will help in developing medicines or vaccines needed to stop the spread of the deadly virus, which has wreaked havoc across the globe.

Genome sequencing can also help in tracing the origin and further mutation in the virus.

With this, the Gandhinagar-based GBRC has become the second institute in India after the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune to decode the entire genome sequence of the virus, they added.