A new change in regulation has resurfaced old wounds about vaccine prices in India.
At Rs1,200 ($16.42) a dose, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, a Covid-19 vaccine fully developed and manufactured in India, is the most pricey option available at private hospitals in India. The vaccine is not only more expensive than the other locally manufactured option, Covishield, but costs more than even the imported Sputnik V.
Covaxin’s pricing is “nothing but governmental sanction for Bharat Biotech to make super profits,” says Malini Aisola, co-convener of the All India Drug Action Network (AIDAN), an independent collective of healthcare professionals and nonprofits. “These unethically inflated prices have no correlation to its cost of production,” she says.
The results of the third phase trials of India s first indigenously produced Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin, are expected to be released next month. In India, Covaxin is now available in private hospitals in 28 locations.
Read more about Covaxin Phase-3 efficacy analysis to be made public by July: Bharat Biotech on Business Standard. The company is also doing phase-4 trials for real world effectiveness of the jab
A medical worker displays a vial of the Covaxin vaccine. | Indranil Mukherjee/AFP
Bharat Biotech, the manufacturer of coronavirus vaccine Covaxin, on Wednesday criticised a recent study that found that its jab produced significantly fewer antibodies than Covishield.
In a statement, the Hyderabad-based company claimed that the study “had lots of flaws”, ANI reported.
The company also said that the phase 3 trial data for Covaxin will be made public in July. The indigenously developed vaccine was granted an emergency use authorisation in January – despite there being no phase 3 trial data. The company had then said it would submit efficacy results by March.
Representative image
HYDERABAD: Bharat Biotech will be conducting phase-4 clinical trials of indigenously developed Covaxin to check its real-world effectiveness. It will also apply for full licensure for Covaxin only after it gets final analysis data of phase-3 studies, the company said on Wednesday.
According to the company, the phase-4 trials will not just help check the real-world effectiveness but also ensure that “its vaccine met every rigorous scientific standard for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality needed to support emergency use authorization (EUA)”.
“It is important to note, the inoculation which began in mid-January and with several million doses administered, will have credible and sizable data soon,” it said.