Over 30 COVID-19 vaccines are in different stages of development and a few are going to trial stages in India.
This was informed by scientists to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting of the task force on Tuesday.
The PM, in the meeting, took a detailed review of the current status of India’s steady efforts in vaccine development, drug discovery, diagnosis and testing.
“After the meeting, Indian companies have come across as innovators in early-stage vaccine development research,” a statement issued by the PMO revealed.
“Three approaches are being taken in drug development in the country,” the statement added.
“First, the repurposing of existing drugs. At least four drugs are undergoing synthesis and examination in this category,” the statement further said.
“Secondly, the development of new candidate drugs and molecules are being driven by linking high performance computational approached with laboratory verification,” it added.
“Thirdly, plant extracts and products are being examined for general anti-viral properties,” it further added.
“Several academic research institutions and start-ups have developed new tests, both for the Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) approach and for antibody detection, in diagnosis and testing,” the statement added.
“Capacity for both these tests has been enormously scaled up by linking laboratories across the country,” it further said
“The problem of importing reagents for testing has been addressed by consortia of Indian start-ups and industry, meeting current requirements,” added the PMO statement.
“The current thrust also holds promise for the development of a robust long-term industry in this area,” the statement further said.