Chikungunya vaccine under clinical trials

THE INDIGENOUSLY DEVELOPED VACCINE— CHIKV— WILL BE TESTED FOR TOLERABILITY AND IMMUNOGENICITY

Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech that is known for producing affordable vaccines, including those for influenza A H1N1, swine flu, in the recent past, announced on Monday it has entered human clinical trials for its chikungunya vaccine.

Chikungunya is a mosquitoborne viral infection that causes excruciating bone and joint pain.

The indigenously developed chikungunya vaccine—CHIKV— will be tested for safety, tolerability and immunogenicity.

There are four phases in all and it could take years before the vaccine finally is ready for use.

The placebo controlled study will involve 60 healthy volunteers. The vaccine has been developed using an isolate of the virus from the Indian epidemic.

The inactivated virus vaccine developed by the research and development team was found to be safe and immunogenic in preclinical animal testing.

The candidate vaccine was approved by the drug controller general of India for Phase 1 clinical trials in 2016.

“Chikungunya is one among the modern day most dreaded virus, and developing an efficient vaccine to prevent it means a lot to people at risk for the infection. Our pre-clinical studies were promising and we hope that the first–in –human clinical trials successfully meets with the clinical endpoints,” said Krishna Ella, chairman and managing director, Bharat Biotech.

If phase 1 clinical testing is successful, Bharat Biotech plans to advance the vaccine into Phase II/III clinical development.

The bone-breaking mosquito borne viral fever that caused the major 2006 epidemic possibly entered India from the Indian Ocean islands. According to the World Health Organisation, the disease has been identified in over 60 countries. It is a viral disease that is transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes, including Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus.