New Delhi: India’s first Ebola vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute has been approved by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for export to Uganda, official sources said Thursday.
The vaccine has been developed by Serum Institute in collaboration with Oxford University, UK. According to sources, this vaccine will be used for solidarity clinical trials in Uganda.
Oxford University signed an agreement with Serum Institute of India to manufacture ChAdOx1 biEBOV.
Read also: Serum Institute of India plans to manufacture Ebola vaccine for use in Uganda outbreak
Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a rare but severe, often fatal illness in humans. The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission. The virus family Filoviridae includes three genera: Cuevavirus, Marburgvirus, and Ebolavirus. Within the genus Ebolavirus, six species have been identified: Zaire, Bundibugyo, Sudan, Taï Forest, Reston and Bombali.
Serum Institute of India is an Indian biotechnology and biopharmaceuticals company headquartered in Pune, India. The company was founded by Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla in 1966.