Bangavax gets nod for human trials

The homegrown Covid-19 vaccine Bangavax got ethical permission from the Bangladesh Medical Research Council (BMRC) to begin human trials, in a massive endorsement of the research credentials of the local drug maker.

Globe Biotech, which announced the development of the single-dose vaccine on July 20 last year, will now send the human trial protocol to the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA), said Mohammad Mohiuddin, its senior manager for quality and regulation.

Once the DGDA gives the clinical trial permission, Globe Biotech can start the human trial, he said.

"The sooner the DGDA will give permission, the sooner we can start the trial," Mohiuddin said, adding that Globe Biotech has completed all preparations.

On October 5 last year, the company announced that its first vaccine candidate had shown promise in pre-clinical trials on mice. Researchers initially named it Bancovid but later renamed it Bangavax.

Then on January 17, Globe Biotech submitted the protocol for the first and second phase human trials of Bangavax. On February 9, the BMRC asked for additional information on more than 100 issues of the proposed trial. The information was furnished eight days later.