New Delhi, November 22: Covaxin, India's first indigenously-developed vaccine candidate against coronavirus (COVID-19), will be at least 60 percent effective, higher than minimum criteria set by World Health Organisation, Bharat Biotech said on Sunday. Speaking to News18, Bharat Biotech said while it had aimed to achieve at least 60 percent efficacy, it is now attempting to reach an even higher rate. COVID-19 Vaccine Update: Bharat Biotech's COVAXIN Vaccine Could be Launched as Early as February 2021, Says ICMR Senior Scientist.

"Chances of the vaccine being less than 50% effective are remote, as suggested by our trial results so far," the company, which is developing Covaxin in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)- National Institute of Virology (NIV), was quoted as saying. The vaccine is currently in phase 3 trials. This is India's first phase-3 efficacy study for a COVID-19 vaccine.

News18 also quoted President of Quality Operations at Bharat Biotech Sai D Prasad saying that WHO, United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), and India's Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) have approved a respiratory disease vaccine if it was at least 50 percent effective. Bharat Biotech aims to roll-out Covaxin by mid-2021 after receiving approvals.

"If we get all the approvals after establishing strong experimental evidence and data, and efficacy and safety data in our last stage of trials, we aim to launch the vaccine in Quarter 2 of 2021," the company said. Covaxin is developed by using inactivated Sars-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. It is a highly purified and inactivated vaccine, manufactured in a vero cell manufacturing platform with an excellent safety track record.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 22, 2020 06:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).