GSVM to begin clinical trials on Sputnik-V by Nov-end

KANPUR: The first batch of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine for COVID-19 is likely to reach Kanpur's GSVM College by next week for Phase 2 and 3 clinical trials.
The decision to conduct human clinical trials was taken after Dr Reddy's Laboratories got approval from Drugs Controller General of India and was registration with Clinical Trials Registry-India, an official said.
The ethics committee of GSVM Medical College has already given its nod to trials and college principal Dr RB Kamal said, research would commence from fourth week of November.
“As many as 180 volunteers have registered for trials till November 13. Head of the research Saurabh Agarwal will determine the vaccine dose and each volunteer would be administered 2 vaccines in a span of 21 days. Research would continue for seven months,” said Dr Kamal.
In September, Dr Reddy's and Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia's sovereign wealth fund, entered a partnership to conduct clinical trials of Sputnik V vaccine and distribution in India.
As part of the partnership, RDIF shall supply 100 million doses of the vaccine to Dr Reddy's upon regulatory approval in India.
On August 11, Sputnik V vaccine was registered by Ministry of Health of Russia and became the world's first registered vaccine against COVID-19 based on the human adenoviral vector platform.
Trials will also be carried out at Christian College, Vellore, KEM Hospital, Pune, JSS Hospital, Mysore, KEL, Belgaum and Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, Puducherry, said Dr Kamal.