Hyderabad-based vaccine firm Bharat Biotech has entered into an agreement with Kansas-based ViroVax LLC to licence an adjuvant for its Covid-19 vaccine candidate Covaxin, the firm said Monday. The adjuvant, Alhydroxiquim-II, is expected to boost the immune response and provide longer lasting immunity. An adjuvant is an ingredient that is used to help make the vaccine work better. “There is critical need for development and availability of adjuvants that elucidate mechanisms of action inducing greater antibody responses to vaccine antigens, thus resulting in long-term protection against pathogens,” said Dr Krishna Ella, chairman and managing director, Bharat Biotech. Covaxin, an inactivated vaccine, is formulated with ViroVax’s adjuvant, according to Bharat Biotech. This vaccine is currently in the second phase of human trials in India, and the company plans to conduct phase 3 trials on over 20,000 volunteers across countries. The Hyderabad-based firm has also been exploring international tie ups to transfer the technology for this vaccine so that it can be produced in other countries to expand its capacity to a billion doses a year from around 200 million doses currently.
