This is the third vaccine the Bharat Biotech is working on using two different platforms.

Vaccine innovator Bharat Biotech partnered with Thomas Jefferson University of Philadelphia to develop its experimental vaccine Coravax against COVID-19 under the accelerated development programme.

The new viral-vector vaccine, developed by the university researchers, has recently completed preliminary trials in animal models that shows a strong antibody response in vaccinated mice.

This is the third vaccine the Bharat Biotech is working on using two different platforms. One uses the nasal flu backbone to deliver Sars-CoV2 genetic material to produce an immune response, while other use the deactivated rabies vaccine as a vector.

The Hyderabad based vaccine maker aims to get into human trials for the COVID-19 vaccine as early as December 2020 with support from the Department of Biotechnology.

Matthias Schnell, Director, Jefferson Vaccine Center, said: “Our partnership with Bharat Biotech will accelerate the development of our vaccine candidate. We will be able to complete animal testing and move to phase 1 clinical trial rapidly.”