The United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) has said that India’s COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin effectively neutralizes both alpha and delta forms of coronavirus.
The results of two studies of blood serum from people receiving Covaxin suggest that the vaccine produces antibodies that effectively neutralize the B.1.17 (alpha) and B.1.617 (delta) variants of SARS-CoV-2, First identified in the UK and India respectively, the NIH said.
The NIH, which has a strong scientific collaboration with India, said a subsidiary developed with funding from it has contributed to the success of the highly effective Covaxin.
The NIH said Covaxin – developed by Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research – contains an inefficient form of SARS-CoV-2 that cannot replicate but still has antibodies against the virus. Stimulates the immune system to make
The top US health research institute said published results from a phase II trial of the vaccine indicate it is safe and well-tolerated, said safety data from a phase III trial of Covaxin due later this year. will be available.
Meanwhile, unpublished interim results from the Phase 3 trial indicate the vaccine has 78 percent efficacy against symptomatic disease, 100 percent efficacy against severe COVID-19 including hospitalization, and SARS-CoV-2, the virus asymptomatic. Has 70 percent efficacy against infection. Which causes Covid-19, PTI reported NIH as saying.
The NIH further noted that the results of two studies of the blood serum of people who had received Covaxin showed that the vaccine produced antibodies that were responsible for SARS’s B.1.1.7 (alpha) and B.1.617 (delta). ) forms – CoV-2, first identified in the UK and India respectively.
Meanwhile, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director Anthony S. Fauci said ending the global pandemic requires a global response.
Fauci expressed his happiness that a novel vaccine adjuvant developed in the US with NIAID – part of the NIH – support is part of an effective COVID-19 vaccine available to people in India.
Lhydroxychem-II, the adjuvant used in Covaxin, was discovered and tested in a laboratory by biotech company Virovax LLC of Lawrence, Kansas, with support from the NIAID Adjuvant Development Program.
LHydroxyzyme-II is the first adjuvant in an authorized vaccine against infectious disease that activates the receptors TLR7 and TLR8 that play important roles in the immune response to the virus.
The alum in Alhydroxyquim-II stimulates the immune system to search for an invading pathogen.
The NIH notes that molecules that activate TLR receptors potently stimulate the immune system, but the side effects of lhydroxychim-II are mild.
The NIAID Adjuvant Program has supported the research of Virovax’s founder and CEO, Dr. Sunil David, MD, PhD, since 2009, the NIH said.
The collaboration between Dr David and Bharat Biotech was initiated during the 2019 meeting in India, coordinated by the NIAID Office of Global Research under the aegis of NIAID’s Indo-US Vaccine Action Program.
Bharat Biotech signed a licensing agreement with Dr. David to use Lhydroxychem-II in its candidate vaccines.
This license was expanded during the COVID pandemic to include Covaxin, which has received emergency use authorization in India and several other countries.
The NIH said the company conducted extensive safety studies of Alhydroxycim-II and carried out the complex process of scaling up production of the adjuvant under good manufacturing practice standards, the NIH said, adding that Bharat Biotech would receive an estimated 700 million dollars of Covaxin by the end of this year. dosage is expected to produce.
(with PTI inputs)
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