NEW DELHI, JANUARY 17

India's Gennova Biopharmaceuticals is working on an Omicron-specific mRNA COVID-19 vaccine candidate, it told Reuters on Monday, after a person with direct knowledge of the matter said the product could be ready in a month or two.

"The Omicron-specific variant of the vaccine is under development and will be ready for human clinical trials, subject to regulatory approvals," a company spokesperson said in a text message. "We will keep you posted."

The source, who did not want to be named as the information was private, said the product might need a small trial in India before it could be rolled out.

Pfizer Inc said last week a redesigned COVID-19 vaccine that specifically targets the Omicron coronavirus variant could be ready to launch by March.

Gennova said that on Friday it submitted to India's drug regulator phase 2 trial data for its original mRNA vaccine candidate. The government said last year that product was found to be "safe, tolerable, and immunogenic" in the participants of an initial study.

If given emergency-use approval, this would be the country's first mRNA COVID-19 vaccine like the ones developed by Pfizer and Moderna.