Bharat Biotech in talks with many countries for clinical trials, manufacture of COVAXIN

Bharat Biotech is in discussions with more than 10 countries that have shown an interest in its potential COVID-19 vaccine, a company executive told Reuters.

The company this week received initial approval from Indian authorities to conduct late-stage trials for its vaccine candidate, COVAXIN.

The potential vaccine was found to be safe without any major adverse events in the first two stages of the trials involving about 1,000 people, said Sai Prasad, Executive Director, in a phone interview, adding that more than 90 per cent of them developed antibodies against the novel coronavirus.

The focus now was on last-stage trials of the vaccine, developed in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research, as well as seeking foreign partners, he said.

“We are in active discussions with more than 10 countries that have shown an interest in COVAXIN,” he said.

“We are talking to some of the countries about partnerships to conduct clinical trials and introduce the vaccine, and in some countries, we are in talks to manufacture the vaccine locally.”

He declined to name the countries but said they were located in South America, Asia and Central Asia, and Eastern Europe.