Covaxin phase 3 trials efficacy at 81%, says Bharat Biotech

Bharat Biotech said on March 3 that its Covaxin vaccine was 81 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 after a third round of clinicals trials.

Covaxin demonstrated 81 percent interim efficacy in preventing COVID-19 in those without prior infection after the second dose, the company said in a statement.

“Data from 25,800 participants received a vaccine or placebo in a 1:1 ratio showed that the vaccine candidate was well tolerated,” the company said in a statement.

The first interim analysis is based on 43 cases, of which 36 cases of COVID-19 were observed in the placebo group versus 7 cases observed in the Covaxin group, resulting in a point estimate of vaccine efficacy of 80.6 percent.

The AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine has efficacy of 62 percent, Pfizer-BioNTech - 95 percent, Moderna's vaccine has 94 percent efficacy while Sputnik V has 92 percent efficacy. J&J claims its vaccine has 66 percent efficacy.

Covaxin has been developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research and the National Institute of Virology.

The vaccine has been approved for restricted emergency use under clinical trial mode. The vaccine will have to be taken in two doses with 28 days apart.

Covishield vs Covaxin: A comparison of COVID-19 vaccines administering in India

“Today is an important milestone in vaccine discovery, for science and our fight against coronavirus. With today’s results from our Phase 3 clinical trials, we have now reported data on our COVID-19 vaccine from Phase 1, 2, and 3 trials involving around 27,000 participants," said Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Biotech.

Asaduddin Owaisi raises questions over Covishield as PM Modi receives Covaxin shot, asks govt to clear confusion

"Covaxin demonstrates high clinical efficacy trend against COVID-19 but also significant immunogenicity against the rapidly emerging variants,” Ella added.

Covaxin or BBV152 contains a whole virion inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, which is produced in Vero cells. It is stable at 2 to 8°C (refrigerated) and is shipped in a ready-to-use liquid formulation that permits distribution using existing vaccine supply chain channels.