Covaxin To Use ViroVax’s Adjuvant To Boost Immunity

New Delhi: Covaxin, India’s first indigenous COVID vaccine, will use adjuvant Alhydroxiquim-II to increase immune response, informed Bharat Biotech on Monday.

ViroVax LLC, a Kansas based company, has licensed their adjuvant for the use of Covaxin.

Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Biotech said, “There is a critical need for the development and availability of adjuvants that induce greater antibody responses to vaccine antigens, thus resulting in long-term protection against pathogens. Adjuvants also enhance the sustainability of the global vaccine supply on account of their antigen-sparing effect. Our partnership with ViroVax resonates with Bharat Biotech’s relentless efforts towards developing safe and effective vaccines coupled with long-term immunity.”

“The widely used adjuvant Aluminium hydroxide in the development of Sars-CoV-2 vaccines is known to induce a Th2 based response (which are important for the eradication of extracellular parasites and bacterial infection). The Th2 based response has a theoretical risk of vaccine-associated enhanced respiratory diseases (VAERD or ADE). We have used Imidazoquinoline class of adjuvants (TLR7/8 agonists), which are known to induce Th1 based response which further reduces the risk of ADE (Anti-Body Dependent Enhancement),” he was quoted as saying by HT.

Covaxin is an inactivated vaccine that is derived from a strain of the Sars-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19. The inactivated virus has been prepared with ViroVax’s adjuvant. An adjuvant is an immunological agent that boosts the immune response of a vaccine by producing more antibodies and hence leads to long-lasting immunity.

Covaxin, produced by Bharat Biotech, is currently undergoing Stage 2 clinical trials in the nation.