Lancet publication marks safety and efficacy of Covaxin, says Bharat Biotech

The Hyderabad-based firm further said that it was committed to data transparency.

Bharat Biotech International Limited said on Friday that the peer-review of Covaxin, its vaccine against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) by the medical journal The Lancet, was a further testament to the safety and efficacy of India's first indigenous Covid-19 jab. “Bharat Biotech's Phase-3 data published in the Lancet, one of the highest impact factors in the field of medicine,” the Hyderabad-based firm said on Twitter.

 

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“10 publications in the name of Covaxin, all in reputed and international journals, marks the safety and efficacy of our indigenous vaccine. Bharat Biotech is committed to data transparency," it further posted.

 

The Lancet study corroborates earlier figures released by the vaccine manufacturer with regards to Phase-3 clinical trials of Covaxin, on which the latter said that the jab demonstrated an overall efficacy of 77.8 per cent among symptomatic Covid-19 patients. The corresponding figures for severe and asymptomatic cases of the infectious disease were found to be 93 per cent and 63 per cent respectively, while that for the highly contagious Delta variant was recorded at 65 per cent.

The shot was granted emergency use authorisation (EUA) by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) in January for the nationwide inoculation drive, which began on the 16th of that month. However, Bharat Biotech found itself mired in controversy over reports that EUA was granted to it despite not completing Phase-3 trials of Covaxin.

The fresh development, meanwhile, is the latest shot in the arm for Covaxin, which, last week, was approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) for its emergency use listing (EUL). The jab has also been cleared by multiple countries, such as the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, among others.