Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech are expected to pursue late stage clinical trials of intranasal COVID-19 vaccines in the coming months once they receive regulatory approval, India`s health minister said on Sunday.
Dr Harsh Vardhan said the late stage trial generally involves thousands of participants, sometimes 30,000 to 40,000.
Of the vaccines currently in Phase 3 trials, all are administered by injection, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
On Saturday, India`s Dr Reddy`s Laboratories Ltd and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said they have received renewed approval to conduct late-stage clinical trials in India of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine.
India`s coronavirus infections rose by another 61,871 over the past 24 hours, data released on Sunday showed, although the health ministry said it is seeing a trend of steadily declining active cases.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said it will revisit its protocol for COVID-19 treatment after the WHO found some of the commonly used drugs, including remdesivir, had little or no impact on a patient`s chances of surviving, local media reported earlier on Sunday.
