Shiralie Chaturvedi
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In what can be dubbed as a much-needed good news, the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has announced a research collaboration with Bharat Biotech International Ltd (BBIL), to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.
.@ICMRDELHI has transferred the #Covid_19 strain isolated at @icmr_niv to @bharatbiotech. We will be partnering with them to develop an indigenous #Covid_19 vaccine!#icmrfightscovid19 #IndiaFightsCoronavirus @MoHFW_INDIA #MakeInIndia pic.twitter.com/Q73JZsU30f
— ICMR (@ICMRDELHI) May 9, 2020
ICMR has said in a statement that it has transferred the virus strain isolated at the National Institute of Virology, Pune to BBIL.
The social media post put out by ICMR said,
ICMR-NIV will provide continuous support to BBIL for vaccine development. ICMR and BBIL will seek fast-track approvals to expedite vaccine development, subsequent animal studies and clinical evaluation of the candidate vaccine.
Whereas the head of Bharat Biotech, Dr. Krishna Ella, has said that BBIL is “proud to participate in this project of national importance” and that they will do “everything to make this program successful”.
This news was also supplemented by a Tweet sent out by Health Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, about National Institute of Virology and ICMR have also developed 1st indigenous human Elisa testing kit to combat COVID-19 outbreak.
National Institute of Virology, Pune has successfully developed the 1st indigenous anti-SARS-CoV-2 human IgG ELISA test kit for antibody detection of #COVID19 .
This robust test will play a critical role in surveillance of proportion of population exposed to #SARSCoV2 infection pic.twitter.com/pEJdM6MOX6
— Dr Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) May 10, 2020
We hope the tireless efforts by research bodies help us reach a sustainable culmination to fight against the deadly novel coronavirus.