Kanpur, December 9: Trials of six major vaccine candidates are underway in India, and out of them, three developers have chosen the northern city of Kanpur for the clinical tests. The experimental candidates of pharma majors Zydus Cadila and Bharat Biotech, along with Russia's Sputnik V, was administered to volunteers in the city. Bharat Biotech, Serum Institute's COVID-19 Vaccines 'Not Cleared' For Emergency Use? Health Ministry Denies, Calls Media Reports 'Fake'.

The trials conducted by Bharat Biotech, which is developing the Covaxin vaccine, were successfully completed in Kanpur. The tests of Sputnik V have also culminated in the city, with no major adverse effects reported in the volunteers. Zydus Cadila, meanwhile, is scheduled to begin the crucial third phase of trials.

The tests would be conducted at the Prakhar Hospital, one of the two medical facilities that have received the go-ahead from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Reports claimed that Zydus has already recruited 40 healthy volunteers who would receive the experimental shots.

The trials would be conducted under under the supervision of Dr VN Tripathi, who has earlier served as Uttar Pradesh's director general of medical education.

The upcoming trials are not the first to be conducted by Zydus in Kanpur. The drugmaker had earlier conducted the tests on 20 volunteers from the city -- the details of which were not shared. The company, however, will conduct the third round of trials in a transparent manner, confirmed Dr Tripathi.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 09, 2020 09:40 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).