Bharat Biotech has declared that the phase one human clinical trials of the indigenously developed chikungunya (CHIKV) vaccine is underway to evaluate its safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity.
Earlier, the Hyderabad based vaccine maker had produced economical and powerful vaccines for Swine Flu.
According to a press release issued on 5 June, the “placebo-controlled” study involving 60 healthy volunteers would test escalating doses of the vaccine in prime-boost regimen.
The company developed CHIKV vaccine using an isolate of the virus from Indian epidemic and the candidate vaccine was approved by the Drug Controller General of India for phase one clinical trials in 2016, the release said.
Chikungunya is one of the most dreaded viruses in modern times, and developing an efficient vaccine to prevent it means a lot for people at risk of the infection. Our pre-clinical studies were promising and we hope that the first in-human clinical trials successfully meet with the clinical end points.Krishna Ella, Chairman & MD, Bharat Biotech
If phase one clinical testing is successful, Bharat Biotech plans to advance the vaccine into phase two and three clinical development.
Bharat Biotech filed a patent in 2007 for CHIKV drawing priority from 2006, and followed up with a second patent in 2011.
Patents have been granted in USA, Europe, China, Indonesia and South Africa, the release said.
According to WHO, Chikungunya has been identified in over 60 countries. It is a viral disease (genus Alphavirus) which is transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes.
(With inputs from PTI)
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