Covid Vaccine Update : Serum vaccine in phase I/II trials in Australia

The Serum Institute is developing its own vaccine in partnering with SpyBiotech, a spin-off of Oxford University.

Their vaccine candidate has entered into combined phase-I/phase-II clinical trials, which are being done in Australia. The trials began in the first week of September. Serum also has the license to produce and market two of the leading vaccine candidates, one being developed by AstraZeneca and the Oxford University, and the other one by US company Novavax, according ThePrint report.

The Oxford University vaccine is currently undergoing phase-II and phase-II trials in India.

The phase-3 human clinical trial of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) will begin at the Sassoon General Hospital in Pune next week.

“The phase-3 trial of ‘Covishield’ vaccine will begin at Sassoon hospital from next week. It is likely to start on Monday. Some volunteers have already come forward for the trial. Around 150 to 200 volunteers will be administered the vaccine candidate dose,” Dean of the state-run Sassoon General Hospital Dr Muralidhar Tambe said.

“From Saturday, the hospital started enrolling volunteers for the trial. Those who are willing to volunteer for the vaccination should contact the hospital,” he said.