Researchers pleased with high level of volunteer enthusiasm for swine flu vaccine trials; Phase I of testing to begin from tomorrow

3,000 volunteers in 24 hours

Researchers pleased with high level of volunteer enthusiasm for swine flu vaccine trials; Phase I of testing to begin from tomorrow

Imagine a perfectly healthy person opting to be a subject in a clinical trial, where a vaccine for a dreaded virus is to be tested on them for its efficacy. Opting to risk one's health, even if the gamble is a safe one, for the good of society and science is a tough call.

Scary thought for some and definitely difficult to find many who'd be game to do such a thing, but not so when it comes to finding an antidote for the H1N1 virus.

In less than 24 hours nearly 3,000 people volunteered for the clinical trial.

Dr Suresh Jadhav, executive director of Serum Institute of India (SII), said that he was flooded with requests from people wanting to be volunteers for the trial.

"We needed 50 volunteers for the first phase of the human trials and we got more than 3,000 entries. It was quite a pleasant surprise," said Jadhav.

Independent experts working in the field of clinical trials said that this was indeed an unusual occurrence.

"Usually we go around seeking volunteers for the trial, but this time around people came to us. And when the trial is in its first phase it's even more difficult to find volunteers who are doing this as they are perfectly fit and are doing this purely to help others," said Vijay Moza, chairman of Clinical Research Education and Management Academy (CREMA).

"Usually it takes between 30-60 days to recruit people for phase I trials. But in this case, probably due to the nature of the trial and the anxiousness in the people to find a cure for this virus, the response has been much higher," said Moza.

Meanwhile, SII is finally expected to start the phase I human trials of the H1N1 vaccine from tomorrow.

"On January 6, we received the approval from Drug Controller General of India to begin the human trials. In the first phase, we would conduct it on 50 volunteers from Tuesday," said Dr Jadhav.

After the successful completion of the first phase, Phase 2-3 trials would be carried out on approximately 200 volunteers including children and seniors, added Jadhav.