An expert panel on Wednesday cleared Bharat Biotech’s homegrown coronavirus vaccine, Covaxin , recommending that the drug regulator should ...
An expert panel on Wednesday cleared Bharat Biotech’s homegrown coronavirus vaccine, Covaxin, recommending that the drug regulator should remove the “clinical trial mode” label attached to it, the Hindustan Times reported.
If the recommendation, made by the Subject Expert Committee, is accepted by India’s top drug regulatory body, it would mean that the vaccine can be administered with less stringent rules. It would also help in the expansion of the country’s immunisation campaign as infections rise in some big states.
The development follows the vaccine maker’s announcement on March 3, that Covaxin had shown an efficacy of 81% in late-stage clinical trials. It was able to bring down symptomatic cases of Covid-19 by nearly 81% in those who were vaccinated as opposed to those who did not receive a shot.
Covaxin, developed in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research and the National Institute of Virology, is one of the two vaccines approved for emergency use in India. The other one is the Oxford vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India, which is known as Covishield in the country.
Until now, Covaxin was being administered as an extension to its clinical trial, with the Hyderabad-based vaccine maker requiring to first take informed consent prior to administering Covaxin to healthcare...
