FAKHRAVAC ( fa, واکسن فخرا) is a

COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an e ...

developed in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

by the

Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research The Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research or S.P.N.D. ( fa, سازمان پژوهش‌های نوین دفاعی, transliterated Sazman-e Pazhouheshhaye Novin-e Defa’i and abbreviated سازمان سپند) is a research and developm ...

, a subsidiary of Iran's Ministry of Defense. It's the third Iranian COVID-19 vaccine reaching

clinical trial Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel vaccines, drugs, dietar ...

s. It's currently in phase III. It has received emergency use authorization in Iran on 9 September 2021. The vaccine is named after the Iranian nuclear scientist

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh Mohsen Fakhrizadeh Mahabadi ( fa, محسن فخری‌زاده مهابادی ;195827 November 2020) was an Iranian nuclear physicist and scientist. He was regarded as the chief of Iran's nuclear program. Born in Qom in 1958, Fakhrizadeh joine ...

. According to the Iranian authorities, he was working on a vaccine in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Iran Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

. Fakhrizadeh was assassinated in November 2020 in an attack Iran and US intelligence attributed to Israel.

Medical uses

It requiring two doses given by

intramuscular injection Intramuscular injection, often abbreviated IM, is the injection of a substance into a muscle. In medicine, it is one of several methods for parenteral administration of medications. Intramuscular injection may be preferred because muscles have ...

3 weeks apart.

Pharmacology

FAKHRAVAC is an inactivated virus-based vaccine.

Manufacturing

In August 2021, production capacity of the vaccine is reported to be 1 million dose per month and is planned to be "multiplied in a few months ". In October 2021, the production has reported to be stopped amid Iran's growing vaccine imports. In January 2022, the Director General of Health of the Ministry of Defense announced that the first shipment (around 462,000 doses) of the vaccine had been delivered to the Iranian Ministry of Health.

Clinical trials

Authorizations

FAKHRAVAC received emergency use authorization in Iran on 9 September 2021. In October 2021, Iran's Food and Drug Administration was considering giving full authorization to the vaccine for third/booster dose.

References