Biological E to submit final data on its COVID-19 vaccine Corbevax till November end: Sources

By Shalini Bhardwaj
New Delhi [India], October 14 : Biological E will submit final data on COVID-19 vaccine Corbevax till November end, informed Government sources on Thursday.
The government was expecting submission of phase 3 data of Biological E by October but after facing delay in procurement of raw materials, Hyderabad - based Biological E is expected to apply for emergency use authorisation of Corbevax by November-end.
The Corbevax is the third made-in-India vaccine against coronavirus, the other two indigenous vaccines are Covaxin and ZyCoV-D.The government earlier announced about the 30 crore doses of Corbevax by December.
Earlier, on September 2, NITI Aayog Member (Health) VK Paul had said that the Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company, is expected to launch its vaccine against coronavirus in October this year.
Paul had told ANI that Phase 3 of Biological E's trial is underway. "Stockpile is being produced. We should wait for the results. We hope it'll be in the next month or two. They've made a broad commitment that they'll supply a significant amount by year-end."
The Union Health Ministry had announced in June that the Biological E would supply 30 crore doses of Corbevax to India by December.
The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) on Wednesday granted the company permission to conduct phase 2/3 clinical trials of the 'Made in India' COVID-19 vaccine for children of age group 5-18 years on certain conditions, sources told ANI.
Further, they said that the trial will be conducted across 10 sites in the county. "The permission has been given to Biological E after the recommendation from the Subject Expert Committee," they added.
It is to be noted that the government has made an advance payment of Rs 1,500 crore to Biological E for 30 crore vaccines.