Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has played a significant role in addressing India’s critical health issues transforming the healthcare care research landscape, said JP Nadda, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare on Thursday. Nadda said this while in his virtual address at the Department of Health Research and the ICMR (DHR-ICMR) Health Research Excellence Summit 2024 in the national capital. T

The event also marked ICMR’s 113th Foundation Day, celebrating the institution’s commitment to advancing biomedical research in India.

“Today, we celebrate over a century of ICMR’s unwavering commitment to advancing health research and improving the lives of millions. ICMR has been at the forefront of biomedical research, playing a pivotal role in addressing some of the most critical health challenges.” Nadda said. “From combating infectious diseases like tuberculosis, malaria, and Covid-19, to advancing solutions for non-communicable diseases, maternal and child health, and nutritional disorders — ICMR has left an indelible mark on India’s healthcare landscape,” he added. Anupriya Patel, Minister of State of Health lauded ICMR for being a “pioneer in advancing scientific research and innovation in India” Dr. V.K. Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog said that ICMR’s contributions will “position India as a global leader in health research”.

Meanwhile, the ICMR has launched a first-of-its-kind initiative — First in the World Challenge research grant — to foster novel, out-of-the-box, futuristic ideas from researchers across the country. The ideas can include new knowledge, discovery or development of breakthrough health technologies (vaccines, drugs or therapeutics, diagnostics, interventions, etc.) which has never been thought, tested or tried in the world to date. The apex research body noted that the “grant calling for bold research idea” is inspired by the Chandryaan-3 mission, which made a historic landing on the south pole of the Moon.

–IANS

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Two good news await for India – first is that the production of Covaxin has started from its Chiron Behring Vaccines facility in Gujarat’s Ankleshwar, and second, ICMR data has shown tht a single dose of Covaxin on people recovered from Covid-19 is as effective as two doses administered to uninfected individuals. However, these are preliminary findings and that it needs to be corroborated with larger units of data.

Covaxin which is the nation’s first indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin by the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech will now begin to roll out and the first commercial batch was launched by Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya, reports Times of India.

The new facility was built in Gujarat in 2020, and supplies will now begin from the Chiron Behring Vaccines facility in September. However, the production had already begun there in early June, before the team from Bharat Biotech had executed engineering batches to study the equipment functionality at the facility.

As per a report published by the Economic Times, “This study offers evidence in support of public health-oriented and immunologically sustained vaccine strategies,” the study published by ICMR reads.

It added, “If our preliminary findings are confirmed in large population studies, a single dose of BBV152 vaccine may be recommended to previously confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals so that the naïve individuals could attain the larger benefit of a limited vaccine supply.”

Covaxin was jointly developed by Dr Krishna Ella-led Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and the Pune-based National Institute of Virology.

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Chiranjit Dhibar, an RSS worker and teacher working in West Bengal’s Durgapur will be the first person to participate in the human clinical trial of the COVID19 vaccine. Dhibar who is 30 years old has volunteered to participate for the human trials of COVAXIN developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Reports say that Mr. Dhibar applied to volunteer for the trials in April itself. On July 5, Dhibar received a call from ICMR’s Patna call centre that he has been selected for the clinical trial.

Mr. Dhibar confirmed the news on his Facebook page stating that the ideals of RSS inspired him to donate his body for the country.

He will be heading for Odisha in the coming days to receive the antigen of the attenuated virus.

A total of 1125 volunteers will participate in the two phase study.

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US health officials on Tuesday said that India and U.S are planning to work together on vaccine research and trials for COVID19 and listed a number of other ways the two countries are working together.

U.S Embassy Health and Human Services (HHS) attaché Preetha Rajaraman informed that the scientists of the two countries have been collaborating on development and testing safe, cost-effective vaccines against a range of infectious diseases that could save numerous lives in India, USA and the world.

“In the context of current pandemic, partners under the Vaccine Action Programme (VAP) are planning to collaborate on the development and testing of vaccine candidates and diagnostics for COVID19”, she said.

The VAP is a 33 year old collaboration between the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Department of Biotechnology, India and the US National Institutes of Health along with other partners.

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The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Hyderabad-based, Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL), have come together for developing a COVID-19 vaccine, the ICMR announced on Saturday.

For research purposes, the virus strain has been transferred from National Institute of Virology in Pune to BBIL.

This is the third initiative announced by BBIL towards finding a vaccine for COVID-19.

Earlier on April 20, the Department of Biotechnology offered funding support to develop a vaccine using inactive rabies vector. The company also was working on a one-drop COVID-19 nasal vaccine called ‘CoroFlu’ that was built on a flu vaccine called ‘backbone’ which had been considered safe for humans. To develop ‘CoroFlu’, BBIL had been a part of an international collaboration of virologists at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and Flugen, a vaccine manufacturing company.

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