A Report Says Health Ministry Simplifies Clinical Trial Method To Speed Up The Covid 19 Vaccine Development.

: Admin : 2020-06-05

New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry has reportedly made some relaxations to the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and the subsequent rules, which could help speed up the development of a COVID-19 vaccine, as well as make suitable vaccines available to meet emergency needs caused by a pandemic. The move is likely to help Indian pharmaceutical firms develop a COVID-19 vaccine and get it to the market faster, reported Business Standard.

As of Thursday morning, the total number of COVID-19 cases in India rose to 2,16,919 as single-day count hit a new high of 9,304. Globally, at least 382,016 people have now succumbed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and as many as 6,440,940 people have been confirmed in 196 countries and territories. With no specific treatment at the moment, researchers are looking at different approaches, including vaccines and antiviral agents, to fight COVID-19.

Recently, the government had revealed that it has identified at least six local vaccine candidates with 30 groups working to develop a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine. The new process will help Indian vaccine makers develop and get a vaccine to the market swiftly.

Earlier, if a pharmaceutical firm intended to make and stock a vaccine for CVOID-19, it had to follow a complex process for marketing authorisation. To conduct trials, the company had to make several applications. The firm also had to follow a series of application processes upon completion of the trials. Additionally, the company had to get prior permission from the Central Licensing Authority under the New Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules, 2019, to manufacture the vaccine.

However, the report stated that some of the rules have been ‘deferred in public interest’ by the ministry to meet the current situation.

“We are in talks with vaccine makers here. So far, it looks like some of the global candidates, like the Oxford one, may be available sooner than the others. There are some key Indian candidates, too. The government will take an inter-departmental approach to ensure that the right vaccine candidate is available for Indians at the earliest," the report quoted a government official as saying.

Meanwhile, Claudio Colosio Unimi Professor, Department of Health Sciences University of Milan, Italy, said we might not get a vaccine for Covid-19 anytime soon, as the RNA virus changes very quickly, making it difficult to create a good vaccine. His comment came even as researchers across the globe scramble to come up with a safe vaccine against the dreaded respiratory disease.

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