Is it true that Moscow’s Sechenov University has completed clinical trials of a vaccine for Covid-19?
Not exactly. Numerous reports by the leading newspapers and websites did not tell the whole truth. It is just the phase one trials that has been completed by the Russian university.
#COVID19Pandemic reminded us that doctor is not just a profession, but a devotion. President Vladimir #Putin @KremlinRussia_E supported the initiative to name city streets after hero medics. There are 10 such streets in Moscow. Read the stories of their lives and valour. https://t.co/1XjGDrFUXB
— Russia in India 🇷🇺 (@RusEmbIndia) July 11, 2020
Phase two trials are supposed to start Monday. There is only one vaccine candidate being developed in Russia that has reached the human clinical trial stage. That candidate, being developed by the Gamalei National Research Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology, in partnership with the Russian Defence Ministry, reported the Indian Express.
A report by the TASS news agency of Russia on July 10 said the phase I clinical trials would end on July 15, while the second phase would begin on July 13.
Biggest Vaccine Development Effort
The World Health Organisation lists 160 vaccines currently in development at various stages of research and development. This makes it the biggest vaccine development effort in the history of mankind while a pandemic is still on, the Live Mint quoted Indian virologist Shahid Jameel, as saying this.
Of these, 139 are currently in “preclinical evaluation” stages, which means that vaccine candidates are being tested on animals.
Of the 21 vaccine candidates listed by the WHO in clinical trial stages, two have reached phase III – the private Chinese company Sinovac’s trial of an inactivated vaccine in Brazil, and the British-Swedish drug company AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford’s viral vector vaccine that is in a Phase II/III trial in England and in Phase III trials in Brazil and South Africa.
COVID-19 vaccine candidates By BioNTech And Pfizer get Fast Track designation
Meanwhile, two experimental coronavirus vaccines being developed by German biotech firm BioNTech and US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer have received the US Food and Drug Administration’s ‘fast track’ designation. The vaccines, BNT162b1 and BNT162b2, are the two most advanced of the four vaccines being developed by the companies.
What Is Fast Track
Fast Track is a process to expedite the review of new drugs and facilitate development of new drugs. Pfizer’s and BioNTech’s BNT162b1 and BNT162b2 are currently being evaluated in Phase 1/2 clinical studies in the U.S. and Germany.
“The FDA’s decision to grant these two COVID-19 vaccine candidates Fast Track designation signifies an important milestone in the efforts to develop a safe and effective vaccine against SARS-CoV-2,” said Peter Honig, Senior Vice President, Global Regulatory Affairs, Pfizer. “We look forward to continue working closely with the FDA throughout the clinical development of this program, Project Lightspeed, to evaluate the safety and efficacy of these vaccine candidates.”
