NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s Gennova Biopharmaceuticals is working on an Omicron-specific COVID-19 mRNA vaccine candidate the company told Reuters on Monday, shortly after an individual who has direct knowledge of the matter said the product could be available in a month or two.
A spokesperson for the company stated in a text message that “the Omicron-specific version of the vaccine is being developed” and will be available for human clinical trials when approvals from the regulatory authorities have been granted. “We will keep you updated.”
Sources have said that the product might need to be tested in India before it can be released.
Pfizer Inc said last week a redesigned COVID-19 vaccine that specifically targets the Omicron coronavirus variant could be ready to launch in March.
Gennova announced that it had submitted phase 2 data to India’s regulator of drugs for its initial mRNA vaccine candidates. The government announced in the past year that the product was confirmed to be “safe and tolerable immune-genic” in the participants of the initial study.
If approved for emergency use, this would be the country’s first mRNA COVID-19 vaccine like the ones created by Pfizer and Moderna.
