Covaxin neutralizes double mutant strain of COVID-19: ICMR study
ICMR-NIV has recently been successful in isolating and culturing the double mutant strain B.1.617 SARS-COV-2 identified in certain regions of India and several other countries.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 21 April 2021 11:04 AM GMT
Hyderabad: An Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) study has shown that Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech's Covaxin is effective against multiple variants of coronavirus and effectively neutralizes the double mutant of COVID-19 as well.
"ICMR-NIV has recently been successful in isolating and culturing the double mutant strain B.1.617 SARS-COV-2 identified in certain regions of India and several other countries. The study shows that Covaxin neutralizes against multiple variants of coronavirus and effectively neutralizes the double mutant strain as well," ICMR said in a statement on 21 April
ICMR-NIV had earlier demonstrated the neutralization potential of Covaxin against the UK and Brazil variants.
Covaxin is among the two vaccines to get emergency use authorizations (EUAs) for COVID-19 treatment and it's being used in India and several other countries. Sputnik V has also got the emergency use authorization and the vaccination is likely to begin before the end of this month.
Meanwhile, Bharat Biotech on 21 April announced the phase 3 interim analysis results of Covaxin and said it had an efficacy of 78 per cent against mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19 cases.
The second interim analysis is based on accruing more than 87 symptomatic cases of COVID-19. Due to the recent surge in cases, 127 symptomatic cases were recorded, resulting in a point estimate of vaccine efficacy of 78 per cent against mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19 disease.
Bharat Biotech said that the efficacy against severe COVID-19 disease was 100 per cent, with an impact on reduction in hospitalizations. The efficacy against asymptomatic COVID-19 infection was 70 per cent, suggesting decreased transmission in Covaxin recipients.
Safety and efficacy results from the final analysis will be available in June and the final report will be submitted to a peer-reviewed publication. Based on the achievement of the success criteria, placebo recipients have now become eligible to receive two doses of Covaxin.
The phase 3 study enrolled 25,800 participants between 18-98 years of age, including 10 per cent over the age of 60. The analysis was conducted 14 days after the second dose was administered.
Covaxin was developed with seed strains received from the National Institute of Virology and the phase 3 clinical trial was co-funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research, making it a true public-private partnership towards public health.
