Telangana-based Bharat Biotech India (BBL) on Friday said that animal trials of Covaxin, its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, were successful.

This indigenous vaccine is one of the front runners in the race for a coronavirus vaccine in India.

The company in a press release said, Covaxin generated “robust immune responses”.

COVAXIN which has been developed jointly by the Indian council of medical Research and Bharat Biotech, is tested at 12 institutes across India.

In the trial, a two-dose vaccination regimen of inactivated SARS-Cov-2 vaccine candidates was administered in 20 rhesus macaques, divided into four groups.

One group was administered with placebo, while three groups were immunized with three different vaccine candidates at zero and 14 days. All the macaques were exposed to viral challenge 14 days after the second dose.

According to reports, the results showed protective efficacy, increasing SARS-CoV-2 specific IgG and neutralizing antibodies, reducing replication of the virus in the nasal cavity, throat, and lung tissue of the monkeys.