Bharat Biotech Covaxin Can Neutralise UK Variants Of COVID-19: Study

Covaxin - vaccine developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech is said to be effective against UK variants of COVID-19, according to a study titled ''Neutralization of UK-variant VUI-202012/01 with COVAXIN vaccinated human serum'', after research  conducted on 26 participants, shared by the company on Wednesday.

Neutralization of UK-variant VUI-202012/01 with COVAXIN vaccinated human serum https://t.co/v8Me4TzGgh #BharatBiotech #COVAXIN #bioRxiv #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/7R3FlsWAX3

— BharatBiotech (@BharatBiotech) January 27, 2021

The findings published in an article - Neutralization of UK-variant VUI-202012/01 with Covaxin vaccinated human serum - on the website of bioRxiv, which said these are preliminary reports that have not been peer-reviewed.

"A comparable neutralization activity of sera of the vaccinated individuals showed against UK-variant and the heterologous strain with similar efficiency, dispel the uncertainty of possible neutralization escape," the article said.

Covaxin has been accorded approval for restricted emergency use in the country by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on January 3.
While giving the approval for Covaxin, DCGI V G Somani had said, "Bharat Biotech has developed a Whole Virion Inactivated Coronavirus Vaccine (Covaxin) in collaboration with ICMR and NIV (Pune), from where they received the virus seed strains.

This vaccine is developed on the Vero cell platform, which has a well-established track record of safety and efficacy in the country & globally".

This was also endorsed by the Indian Council of Medical Research, the apex body in India for the formulation, coordination, and promotion of biomedical research in its tweet.

COVAXIN developed by @BharatBiotech with @ICMRDELHI has equivalent immunogenicity against the UK-variant & circulating strains of SARS-COV-2 in India.@icmr_niv is the first in the world to culture the UK variant. Read more: https://t.co/HfhH8z6T8x / J Travel Med (In Press) pic.twitter.com/cGp537bi0H

— ICMR (@ICMRDELHI) January 27, 2021