Biological E hopes to roll out COVID-19 vaccine Corbevax by November-end

Biological E’s anti-coronavirus shot, Corbevax, is a RBD protein sub-unit vaccine and is currently undergoing phase 2/3 clinical trials on adults.

PTI

October 25, 2021 / 04:55 PM IST

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Biological E. Limited (BE) is expecting its COVID-19 vaccine Corbevax to be rolled out by the end of November even as the city-based firm is getting ready with 100 million doses for the launch, Mahima Datla, Managing Director, BE said on Monday.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of signing a financing agreement with US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), she said currently the manufactured doses are being sent to Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL), Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh for regulatory testing.

"Cobevax is in phase 3 trials. We are likely to complete all the studies by end of November which is when we are expecting licence (from the drug regulator). The licence for children should follow one month later. The study in children is underway as well,” she said.

Biological E’s anti-coronavirus shot, Corbevax, is a RBD protein sub-unit vaccine and is currently undergoing phase 2/3 clinical trials on adults.

The Phase 3 trials are going to be a study in comparison with the already licensed vaccines, though the study in children is not a comparative study, she further said.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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