Rohit Shishodia

Prof K Vijay Raghavan, Principal Scientific Advisor, Government of India, has informed that there are about a total of thirty groups in India from big industry to individual academics who are trying to develop vaccines for Covid. Around 20 out of the 30 are keeping a good pace to develop the vaccines,” he added while addressing the media on development of drugs and vaccines to fight Covid.

Prof Raghavan, further said that vaccine development falls into four categories. First is MRNA vaccine under which you take a component genetic material of the virus and inject it to the individual. Our body translates it and makes viral protein and prepares immune response to the virus,” he explained.

“Second is called standard development vaccine under which you take version of the virus which spreads but does not cause a disease. Like a rotavirus vaccine. So Covid vaccine is being tried under this process,” informed Prof Raghavan.

“Under third type of vaccine, putting Covid virus protein coding into other virus. Under fourth type of vaccine, a protein of this virus is developed in a lab and is put in other stimulus’ adjuvant. These all types of methods of developing the Covid vaccine are done in the country,” he said.

Prof Raghavan said that presently some companies are in late clinical stages of developing the vaccine and by October 2020 they will reach pre-clinical study. Some will be able to develop a Covid protein by February 2021. There are some startups, which in collaboration with Indian and international companies, working together to develop the vaccine. Some academic institutes are also in a process to develop the vaccine,” he informed.

“Many Indian companies with other international companies are also in a process to develop the vaccine. In some areas, they are leading and in some our companies are leading,” he added.