More COVID-19 vaccines on the way; Serum, Dr Reddy's, Biological E in advanced stages

India is set to launch three more 'Made-in-India' coronavirus vaccines. At present three firms-- Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Serum Institute of India, and Biological E, are reportedly in various advanced stages including preparing to submit data for approval of the vaccine or starting Phase 3 trials.

Biological E has tied up with vaccine maker Johnson & Johnson and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. And, it plans to start the Phase 3 trial of the candidate licensed from Baylor College next week.

On the other hand, Dr Reddy's had approached the drug regulator on February 19  to get an emergency approval for Sputnik V. The 'Made in Russia' Sputnik V has shown 92 per cent protection against coronavirus, late stage trial results published in The Lancet revealed. Several other countries like Argentina, Venezuela, UAE, Iran have also started giving Sputnik V jabs to their citizens.

The Serum Institute of India, whose COVID-19 vaccine called Covishield has already entered the market, is manufacturing another vaccine in the country. While the Covishield was developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca, it was Serum that manufactured it in India and is also supplying to more than 20 countries across the globe. Currently, the Pune-based firm is developing the second vaccine of US drugmaker Novavax in India. Novavax's jab is expected to hit the market in the first half of 2021. Novavax and Serum have an agreement to make 1 billion doses of vaccine for low and middle-income countries.

Meanwhile, the total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered to healthcare and frontline workers in India has crossed 1.19 crore.   Among 1,19,07,392 beneficiaries vaccinated includes Bihar ( 5,82,966), Kerala (4,68,145), Karnataka (7,20,392), Madhya Pradesh (6,75,401), Maharashtra (10,03,706), Delhi ( 3,41,283), Gujarat (9,01,400), Uttar Pradesh (12,26,775), West Bengal (7,60,539), according to the provisional report.

Separately, the union health ministry has directed five state governments and one union territory (Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, and Chhattisgarh)  to expedite the vaccination of healthcare and frontline workers in the wake of a rising trend of COVID-19 cases.

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