Indian Covaxin to be permitted for trial in Bangladesh

Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin, by Indian company Bharat Biotech, is going to get approval for a clinical trial in Bangladesh. 

The Bangladesh Medical and Research Council has set some conditions in response to a request for the trial from the company. 

If the conditions are met, Bharat Biotech will soon get approval for a human trial in Bangladesh, Professor Dr Ruhul Amin, director, Bangladesh Medical Research Council (BMRC), told The Business Standard on Tuesday.

"The conditions are easy. There were a few mistakes in the application and we sent a letter to them in the third week of July saying that we will approve it if those are corrected. We have not received any reply yet," he said.

After the approval of BMRC, approval from the Department of Drug Administration is required to bring the vaccine sample to Bangladesh before the trial starts, he added.

Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Scientific Research have jointly developed Covaxin which was approved for emergency use in India last January. 

Subsequently, an application was made to the government of Bangladesh in mid-January to conduct a clinical trial of the vaccine in Bangladesh.
Bharat Biotech will implement this vaccine experimentally in Bangladesh through icddr,b.