‘Covaxin Booster Generates Robust Neutralizing Antibodies Against Both Omicron & Delta Variants Of COVID-19’

Bhubaneswar: The booster dose of Covaxin has shown to “neutralize” both Omicron and Delta variants of COVID-19, Bharat Biotech said in a statement on Wednesday.

A booster dose of candidate vaccine generated robust neutralizing antibody responses against both Omicron (B.1.529) and Delta (B.1.617.2) using a live virus neutralization assay, the company said.

It further said that 100% of test serum samples showed neutralization of the Delta variant and more than 90% of serum samples showed neutralization of the Omicron variant.

These data add to the body of evidence that the broad-spectrum mechanism of action of a whole virus inactivated COVID-19 vaccine, like Covaxin, is a viable option in this continuously evolving pandemic, it added.

These were the findings of a study conducted at Emory University in Atlanta (US) demonstrating that sera from subjects who received a booster dose six months after getting a primary two-dose series of Covaxin. The immune sera were analyzed from 13 trial participants, 28 days after their booster jabs. More than 90% of all individuals boosted with Covaxin showed neutralizing antibodies. The neutralization activity of Covaxin boosted sera was comparable to what has been observed in mRNA vaccine-boosted sera against the Omicron variant.

“Data from this preliminary analysis show individuals receiving a booster dose of Covaxin have a significant immune response to both the Omicron and Delta variants. These findings suggest that a booster dose has the potential to reduce disease severity and hospitalization,” said Mehul Suthar, assistant professor, Emory Vaccine Center,  who led the laboratory analysis.

The study was sponsored by Ocugen, Inc., and Ocugen’s partner, Bharat Biotech, provided the sera of the subjects from the Phase 2 study.

“The positive neutralization responses against the Omicron and Delta variants validate our hypothesis of a multi-epitope vaccine generating both humoral and cell-mediated immune responses,” Krishna Ella, CMD of the Hyderabad-based company, was quoted as saying by TNIE.

The findings from the ongoing trial will be published on the pre-print server, medRXiv, in the coming days.