Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company, Biological E, is expected to launch its vaccine against coronavirus in October this year, according to Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog.

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Paul stated that Phase 3 of Biological E's trial is underway. "Stockpile is being produced. We should wait for the results. We hope it'll be in next month or two. They've made a broad commitment that they'll supply a significant amount by year-end," he added.

The Union Health Ministry had announced in June that the Biological E would supply 30 crore doses of Corbevax to India by December. The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) on 1st September granted the company permission to conduct phase 2/3 clinical trials of the 'Made in India' COVID-19 vaccine for children of age group 5-18 years on certain conditions, sources reported.

Further, they said that the trial will be conducted across 10 sites in the county. "The permission has been given to Biological E after the recommendation from the Subject Expert Committee," they added. It is to be noted that the government has made an advance payment of Rs 1,500 crore to Biological E for 30 crore vaccines.

However, Zydus Cadila's needle-free COVID-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D has already received emergency use authorisation (EUA) to inoculate children in the age group of 12-18. It is expected to be administered from the first week of October.

Trials of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin COVID-19 vaccine for phases two and three for children are underway, and its result is expected in September. Earlier, the drug regulator, in July, had also granted permission to the Serum Institute of India (SII) for conducting phase 2/3 trials of Covovax on children of age 2-17 years with certain conditions.