As all countries across the world are focusing on developing a coronavirus vaccine, India too has taken a number of major initiatives in this regard. India’s Biotechnology major Panacea Biotech said on Wednesday that it is collaborating with Refana Inc of the United States to make a COVID 19 vaccine. The collaboration is reportedly targeted at making a coronavirus vaccine that is widely accessible throughout the world in an equitable manner through a joint venture company to be based in Ireland.
Under this collaboration, the Indian company Panacea Biotech will be responsible for product development and commercial manufacturing while the joint venture will take care of clinical development and regulatory submissions across the world. Both companies will undertake sales and distribution of the vaccine in their respective areas.
Serum Institute of India, known as the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer is also investing 100 million USD on a potential COVID 19 vaccine being developed at Oxford University, as per various media reports. The Indian company has partnered with AstraZeneca, a British biopharma giant, to ensure equitable supply of the vaccine doses to India as well as low and middle income countries.
Besides, Indian company Bharat Biotech is also developing a COVID 19 vaccine in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR ) and the Thomas Jefferson University of Philadelphia.
While on the one hand, there is a race amongst different countries for the development of a potential COVID 19 vaccine, many research studies are also talking about the efficacy of traditional or alternative medicine systems like Ayurveda in preventing and possibly, curing COVID 19. Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and Japan’s National institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology have done a joint study that talks about the potential efficacy of traditional Indian herb Ashwagandha in curing COVID 19.Many traditional ayurvedic herbs have a proven efficacy when it comes to strengthening a person’s immune system.
