Globe Biotech Limited has claimed to be the first company from Bangladesh to have a Covid-19 vaccine under development.
The company is currently undertaking preliminary tests with animal modeling, using rabbits and mice as test subjects.
Asif Mahmood, a scientist working for Globe Biotech, made the announcement at a press briefing in the Globe Biotech headquarters at 12:10pm on Thursday.
The preliminary tests are set to conclude within four to six weeks, after which the company will seek ethical approvals from the Bangladesh Medical Research Council (BMRC), he said.
When (and if) they acquire those approvals, the company will be ready to move on to human trials through third party under the supervision of the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) in order to assess the effectiveness of the drug.
Harunur Rashid, chairman of Globe Biotech Limited said: “Importing coronavirus vaccines from abroad is surely going to be very expensive, whenever that happens. We can’t yet say what the exact price of our solution will be. But our target is to produce something affordable.”
