Bharat Biotech to conduct Phase IV trial soon, Phase III trial data to be published in July

Amid the Twitter war between Bharat Biotech’s Raches Ella and Kolkata researcher Dr Aswadhesh Kumar Singh over Covaxin versus Covishield, Bharat Biotech on Wednesday informed that the company will conduct a phase 4 trial of its vaccine to check the real-world effectiveness of Covaxin. Its phase 3 trial data will be published in July, the company said, after which it will apply for full licensure.

While the Centre has said that these two vaccines can not be compared as they are made differently, researchers have not stopped finding out the answer to the question: which vaccine is better between Covaxin and Covishield. A pre-print study, which is yet to peer-reviewed, has recently claimed that both the vaccines showed a good immune response after two doses. But Serum Institute of India’s Covishield produced more antibodies than Covaxin.

Opposing the reporting of the study, Bharat Biotech’s business development head Dr Raches Ella took to social media and said the study has its limitations.

Dr Aswadhesh Kumar Singh, one of the researchers, pointed to the fact that the “whole country is getting vaccinated even without a preprint phase 3 result — lest forget published one”.