Iran Unveils “Fakhra” Vaccine after Nuclear Scientist Martyr Fakhrizadeh

By Staff, Agencies

The first phase of clinical trial of “Fakhra” vaccine started with the injection of the vaccine into son of Iranian nuclear scientist martyr Mohsen Fakhrizadeh on Tuesday in the presence of Iran’s ministers of Defense and Health and Medical Education.

Dr. Karimi Project Manager of “Fakhra” Vaccine broke the news on Tuesday.

He expounded on the activities of Iranian Defense Ministry’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research [known by its acronym SPND] in the field of dealing with the coronavirus, COVID-19, disease especially production of “Fakhra” Vaccine.

He then stated that “From the beginning of outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the Organization, benefited from the specialized, committed and experienced manpower, took giant stride in the fight against the disease at the initiative taken by Martyr Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in this respect.”

Production of various diagnostic kits of coronavirus, COVID-19, and mobile specialized laboratories [level 3], two of which were handed over to Razi Institute and Pasteur Institute of Iran was the starting point of this comprehensive activity, he added.

The research and development process of COVID-19 vaccine started as of March 2020, he said, adding, “By isolating this virus from 35,000 samples of Iranian patients and culturing 30 suitable isolates, the first vaccine seed was selected and produced from among them.”

By performing a variety of tests to identify the virus, its identity card was prepared and the candid of COVID-19 vaccine reached the experimental production stage in June 2020, he added.

Dr. Karimi reiterated that the production process including stages of cell culture, inoculation, proliferation, isolation and purification, inactivation and formulation was launched in a short time and then animal tests and various quality control [QC] tests were performed.

After laboratory and animal tests on more than 650 animals from different species of mice, rabbits, guinea pigs and monkeys, the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine was proven, he said, adding, “The file of this vaccine was sent to Iran Food and Drug Administration [IFDA].”

Iranian nuclear and defense scientist 'Dr. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh', who headed the Iranian Defense Ministry’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, was assassinated in November 2020 in a multi-pronged attack involving at least one explosion and small fire by a number of assailants in Absard city of Damavand County, Tehran Province.