Yesterday, Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech published interim results from the Phase 3 trial of it Covid-19 vaccine, branded as Covaxin. 25,8000 subjects participated in the trial. The trial found 43 cases of COVID-19 patients who showed symptoms ranging from mild to moderate and severe, and of the total cases, 36 were from the placebo group, while just seven were from those who received the vaccine. The vaccines is 81 percent effective and seem to work with the new strains of the virus,
The interim results are “a testament to India’s emergence as a global vaccine superpower,” said Dr. Balram Bhargava, the director general of the Indian Council on Medical Research, a government agency which collaborated with the company. Many political leaders in India, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have been inoculated with COVAXIN this week.
The two-shot product uses inactivated or “dead” virus to trigger an immune response. The company said “BBV152 contains a whole virion inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, which is produced in Vero cells. It is stable at 2 to 8° Celsius (36 to-46 Fahrenheit), is shipped in a ready-to-use liquid formulation that permits distribution using existing vaccine supply chain channels and open vials can be used for 28 days.”
The company claims that its product “is based on an established manufacturing platform with a better safety profile when compared to other vaccine platforms,” a reference to the novel mRNA technology in products from Moderna and Pfizer. Indeed Bharat Biotech has been in existence for 24 years and has delivered over 3 billion doses globally of various types of vaccines, including ones for Hepatitis-B, Zika, H1NI, nd the world’s first tetanus-toxoid conjugated vaccine for typhoid.
The positive result also brightens prospects for sales overseas, with the vaccine, “already attracting interest from more than 40 countries,” according to its Chairman, Krishna Ella. While the company is privately-held, its American licensee, Ocugen (OCGN) is listed in the United States and saw it stock rise 31 percent in pre-market trading on the news of the trial results. Brazil has already signed a deal to buy 20 million doses of Covaxin. The company expects to product as many as 700 million doses this year.
India is also using another Covid-19 vaccine, the Oxford Astra Zeneca product, which is manufactured in India by the Serum Institute in Pune. India has already shipped this vaccine, called Covishield,to 49 countries including Mexico and Canada.
Last updated: December 26th, 2025
