Aligarh: The Aligarh Muslim University successfully concluded the phase-3 trial of country’s indigenous Covid-19 vaccine – Covaxin – at its Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC).
Principal Investigator, Prof Mohammad Shameem along with his team members apprised the Vice Chancellor, Prof Tariq Mansoor about it and expressed their gratitude for his “constant support and motivation throughout the vaccine trial”. AMU Registrar Abdul Hamid, IPS was also present on the occasion. The Vice Chancellor, who was also Co-Principal Investigator, congratulated Prof Shameem and the entire team “for the hard work, dedication and perseverance while braving the peak phases of the pandemic for conducting the study and maintaining confidence amongst the volunteers”. Chairman & Managing Director, Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL), Krishna M. Ella appreciated Prof Mansoor and the team for the “mega” task and hoped to collaborate with the AMU in future research also.
The phase-3 trial for Covaxin was done in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and BBIL. It was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) in November 2020 and the volunteers were recruited for the trial. “AMU was the first to enroll 1,000 volunteers for the vaccine trial. The reputation of AMU and constant support and encouragement provided by the VC was paramount in developing confidence among volunteers,” Prof Shameem said, adding that the report of the trial has been submitted to the ICMR. The team members for the trial included Samia Kirmani, Arbaaz Alam Khan, Azimuddin Malik as Scientist B (Medical), Shariq Ahmad, Nafees Ahmad Khan, and Obaid Imtiyazul Haque as Sub-Investigators.—IANS