Indian firm gets nod for COVID-19 vaccine human trails

India's drug controller body granted permission to a local firm for conducting clinical human trials of COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University, an authority announced on Monday.

The Drug Controller General of India approved the apply of Serum Institute of India for the phase two and three trials of vaccine, known as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 or AZD1222, in India as the "trials have shown promising results."

"Drugs Controller General of India has given approval to Serum Institute of India, Pune to conduct Phase II+III clinical trials of Oxford University-AstraZeneca #COVID19 vaccine (COVISHIELD) in India," the Health Ministry said on Twitter.

Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the firm, had said that as they were given permission, the trials for the vaccine in India would begin.

He said his company was one of nine companies across the globe which has collaborated with the UK-based AstraZeneca biopharmaceutical company, a co-developer of the Oxford vaccine.

Monday's development came at a time when the coronavirus infections crossed 1.8 million in India, with the country reporting over 50,000 new cases in the last 24 hours.