submission of Covaxin data to Health Canada through affiliate Vaccigen in mid-June after signing an agreement for the research, manufacture, and marketing of Covaxin in Canada in June this year. According to Shankar Musunuri, in such a short time, the regulatory proposal filed under Canada’s interim order was transformed into a new drug submission for Covid-19, especially while the urgency in Canada is mounting.
Shankar Musunuri noted that Covaxin was the first vaccination to be tested in a controlled environment for efficacy against the Delta form. He said, “Majority of the symptomatic cases identified in aggregate in Covaxin and control arms in phase-3 clinical trials were Covid-19 variants…majority were identified as Delta variant B.1.617.2. Data showed Covaxin achieving a 65.2% efficacy rate against the Delta variant.”
Shankar Musunuri added, “Data from Covid cases demonstrated low viral load…in vaccinated individuals compared to placebo group, showing potential for less transmission of the disease by individuals who received Covaxin…these data on Delta are very suggestive that Covaxin is a valuable tool in our fight against this virus now, especially with this variant now dominating this fourth wave we are experiencing”. According to Musunuri, Covaxin is capable of fighting against many variants of the virus and limiting the chance of mutant virus escape, because it teaches the immune system to fight the entire Covid-19 variants based on multi-antigens, such as the spike in nucleocapsid proteins.
