1. Covaxin, India’s first indigrnous vaccine for coronavirus

Bharat Biotech’s Covid vaccine candidate Covaxin is set to undergo human clinical trials in July. It was developed at the firm’s Genome Valley plant in Hyderabad, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Krishna Ella, chairman and managing director of Bharat Biotech, said: “We are proud to announce Covaxin, India’s first indigenous vaccine for Covid-19.

2. CanSino’s coronavirus vaccine candidate approved for military use in China

China’s military has received the greenlight to use a Covid-19 vaccine candidate developed by its research unit and CanSino Biologics after clinical trials proved it was safe and showed some efficacy, the company said on Monday.

The Ad5-nCoV is one of China’s eight vaccine candidates approved for human trials at home and abroad for the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus. The shot also won approval for human testing in Canada.

China’s Central Military Commission approved the use of the vaccine by the military on June 25 for a period of one year, CanSino said in a filing. The vaccine candidate was developed jointly by CanSino and a research institute at the Academy of Military Science (AMS).

3. Dexamethasone and remdesivir included in Covid-19 treatment protocol in India

India has included Gilead’s remdesivir in its clinical protocol to treat Covid-19 patients and also advised the use of dexamethasone as an alternative to another steroid being used for managing moderate to severe cases.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) said the change had been made after considering the latest available evidence and expert consultation.

Dexamethasone is a corticosteroid drug used in a wide range of conditions for its anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant effects. It has been tested on hospitalised patients with Covid-19 in the Oxford University’s Recovery clinical trial and was found to have benefits for critically ill patients.

4. Moderna picks drugmaker Catalent to manufacture potential coronavirus vaccine

Moderna Inc is partnering with contract drugmaker Catalent Inc for filling and packaging millions of doses of its experimental coronavirus vaccine to be supplied in the United States.

The vaccine, among the first to be tested in humans in the United States, was found to produce protective antibodies in a small group of healthy volunteers.

Under the deal, Catalent will provide manufacturing services for an initial 100 million doses starting in the third quarter at its facility in Bloomington, Indiana.

It will also provide other packaging and labeling, storage and distribution services at its facilities