Covid-19 vaccine: Bharat Biotech to finish screening of volunteers for trials by July-end

New Delhi: Bharat Biotech will wrap up the screening of volunteers for the first phase of human clinical trials for its Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin by the end of July and select 375 of them to begin dosing by early August.

The company developed Covaxin in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Virology. Dr Dangs Lab, based in New Delhi, is conducting the safety and screening studies and Pune-based NIV will test the immune response to the vaccine.

The first phase started last week, as first reported by ET on July 14. About 600 volunteers at 12 locations across India are undergoing “safety and screening” studies to check parameters including infections, liver functions, possible exposure to Covid-19 or similar infectious diseases.