DHAKA (BANGLADESH) – India’s Bharat Biotech has sought to conduct trials in Bangladesh for its coronavirus vaccine recently approved for emergency use at home, a senior official at Bangladesh’s main medical research body told.
If given a thumbs up, this would be the first trial of any coronavirus vaccine in Bangladesh and the shot could be accessed by more than 160 million faster access, as part of mass use.
The vaccine, developed with the Indian Council of Medical Research, was given the green light for restricted use in India this month without any data proving its efficiency from a late-stage trial. Early tests, however, has proven that it is safe and generated an immune response in humans.
Mahmood-uz-Jahan, a director at the state-run Bangladesh Medical Research Council, adding that its ethics committee would review the application, said, “We have received their proposal”.
The Dhaka-based International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), has applied to run the trial on behalf of Bharat Biotech, said a source on condition of anonymity.
Sinovac Biotech’s late-stage trial of a potential vaccine in Bangladesh has become obscure after Dhaka declined to meet the demand of the Chinese company for co-funding.
Bangladesh will from Thursday start receiving millions of India-made doses of another vaccine, which has got licensed from Oxford University and AstraZeneca. It is being mass produced by the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine maker.
Bangladesh, however, has no immediate plans to buy COVAXIN whose efficacy data from the late India trial are expected by March.
“Our vaccine procurement is in good shape. We are going to start the vaccination in the first week of February,” Bangladesh Health Secretary Abdul Mannan told.
“No plan to buy from Bharat Biotech at present.”
Brazil is the only country that has publicly announced plans to buy COVAXIN doses from India.
The company on Thursday submitted an application for the emergency use of the vaccine in the Philippines.