Hunt Escalates For The Elusive Corona Vaccine

54 ‘candidates’ being developed across the world20 centres in India scale up their questResearch on 45 repurposed drugs starts tooWHO says any breakthrough is 18 months away

- Ankit Kumar and Milan Sharma

ONLY a vaccine can induce an immune response into humans at the levels that might prevent cases of Coronavirus infection and death. But there has been no breakthrough so far.

As the COVID-19 curve continues to peak, efforts — in the form of unprecedented research initiatives in India as well as the world over — have intensified for the hitherto-elusive vaccine.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said there are 54 vaccine candidates under development across the world. Additionally, US-based think tank Milken Institute has identified 95 trials worldwide, in search of working therapeutic treatments. These include antibodies, antivirals and RNA-based treatments being developed in different countries.

INDIAN POSITION

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has confirmed that India will be part of the solidarity trials being conducted by the WHO with several other nations. According to the WHO, the trials will compare four treatment options against standard of care to assess their relative effectiveness against COVID-19, making it clear that the idea is to synergise the outcomes of treatments underway in various countries.