New Delhi: Pharmaceutical major Bharat Biotech on Wednesday reported that its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin is safe, well-tolerated, and immunogenic in subjects in controlled clinical trials. The breakthrough study was accepted and published in Nature Scientific Reports, a high-impact factor journal. Bharat Biotech in its press release said that the study was conducted on 184 subjects, who were arbitrarily randomised 1:1 and were given either a booster dose of Covaxin or a placebo, six months after the primary series of two doses.
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Subjects were tested on parameters of safety, neutralising antibody responses against variants of concern, binding antibodies against spike protein, RBD, and N proteins, and for memory T and B cell responses to demonstrate cell-mediated immunity. Chairman and managing director of Bharat Biotech Krishna Ella said that the team has been successful in demonstrating that Covaxin is a multi-epitope vaccine with antibodies against spike, RBD, and N proteins.
"Post booster dose, it has favourably proven to neutralise antibody responses against variants of concern and long term protection through memory T and B cell responses. We have now achieved our goal of developing a safe and efficacious vaccine with long-term protection against a spectrum of variants," Ella said.
The press release read that Covaxin is formulated uniquely such that the same dosage can be administered to adults and children alike, for primary and booster doses, making it truly a universal vaccine. The jab is a ready-to-use liquid vaccine, which is stored at 2-8 degrees Celsius, with 12-month shelf life and a multi-dose vial policy. Bharat Biotech already has more than 50 million doses of Covaxin ready in store to be distributed as and when required.
