NEW DELHI: In a hopeful development for India's vaccination drive, leading UK medical journal The Lancet on Tuesday said that indigenously developed Covaxin was found to be safe and has demonstrated better performance in the Phase 2 trials compared to Phase 1.

The report, released Tuesday, said that the vaccine developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech showed better reactogenicity and safety outcomes, and enhanced humoral and cell-mediated immune responses compared with the Phase 1 trials.

It comes just days after Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) announced that Covaxin demonstrated nearly 81% efficacy in interim Phase 3 trials.

Developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, the vaccine has been granted emergency use authorization in clinical trial mode by the Indian government.

The phase 2 trial to evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of the BBV152 vaccine was conducted in healthy adults and adolescents aged 12-65 years at nine hospitals across nine states in India.

Two intramuscular doses of vaccine were administered on day 0 and day 28. The primary outcome was assessed in all participants who had received both doses of the vaccine. Safety was assessed in participants who received at least one dose of the vaccine.

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