INDIAN VACCINE CANDIDATE PASSES ANIMAL TRIALS TEST

NEW DELHI: Adverse events were not seen in animals immunized with a two-dose vaccination regimen of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, showed a study released by the makers of what is only one of India’s two Covid-19 vaccine candidates currently in human trials.

The vaccine, being developed in partnership with the Indian Council of Medical Research is in phase 1/2 of human clinical trials, but the results of the animal study had not been released.

The study also substantiated the immunogenicity of the vaccine candidate -- showing it offered safety and generated effective immune responses against the target virus.

“…we have developed and assessed the protective efficacy and immunogenicity of an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (BBV152) in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulata)” a pre-print paper on the study, published on Research Square said.

All the macaques were exposed to SARS-CoV-2 14 days after the second dose was administered. According to the data, the protective response was observed with increasing SARS-CoV-2 specific IgG and neutralizing antibody titers from the third week post-immunization. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) is a long-lasting antibody.

“Viral clearance was observed from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, nasal swab, throat swab, and lung tissues at seven days post-infection in the vaccinated groups. No evidence of pneumonia was observed in vaccinated groups, unlike the placebo group... Data from this study substantiate the immunogenicity of the vaccine candidates…” the paper added. The vaccine candidate is based on an inactived virus.