The National Institutes of Health announced on June 29 that Covaxin ‘effectively’ neutralises COVID-19 Alpha and Delta variants.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a branch of the US Department of Health and Human Services, announced on Tuesday (June 29, 2021) that Covaxin ‘effectively’ neutralises COVID-19 Alpha and Delta variants.
It cited two studies that found that the Covaxin coronavirus vaccine produces antibodies that neutralise the Alpha and Delta variants of COVID-19, which were discovered in the United Kingdom and India, respectively.
“The results of two studies of blood serum from people who had received Covaxin suggest that the vaccine generates antibodies that effectively neutralise the B.1.1.7 (Alpha) and B.1.617 (Delta) variants of SARS-CoV-2, which were first identified in the United Kingdom and India, respectively,” the NIH stated.
The Covaxin, developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, is said to contain a disabled form of SARS-CoV-2 that cannot replicate but stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies against the virus.
It is worth noting that the vaccine was found to be safe and well-tolerated in a Phase 2 trial, and unpublished interim results from a Phase 3 trial show that it has 78 percent efficacy against symptomatic disease, 100 percent efficacy against severe COVID-19, including hospitalisation, and 70 percent efficacy against asymptomatic infection with SARS-CoV-2.
Meanwhile, the National Institutes of Health announced that an adjuvant developed with its funding aided the success of the ‘highly efficacious’ Covaxin. Adjuvants, for example, are substances that are formulated as part of a vaccine to boost immune responses and increase the effectiveness of the vaccine.
The adjuvant used in Covaxin, Alhydroxiquim-II, was discovered and tested in the laboratory by the biotech company ViroVax LLC of Lawrence, Kansas, with sole support from the NIAID Adjuvant Development Program, according to the NIH.
“Ending a global pandemic requires a global response,” said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
“I am pleased that a novel vaccine adjuvant developed in the United States with NIAID support is part of an effective COVID-19 vaccine that is now available to people in India,” he added.
It should be noted that Covaxin was developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research and is one of three vaccines currently being used in India.
