India's First Indigenous COVID-19 Vaccine Resolves Unintentional Omission

Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) recently stated X that the company unintentionally omitted the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) as a co-owner of the inactivated COVAXIN® vaccine patent.

On June 22, 2024, the Hyderabad-based vaccine producer Tweeted that it was taking legal action to correct this issue.

According to media reporting, ICMR was to receive a 5% royalty on net sales and product branding rights, which include 'co-inventor' status.

COVAXIN was developed from a SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus strain isolated at the National Institute of Virology, under the ICMR. The government health research agency also supported the vaccine's clinical development through assistance in conducting clinical trials.

This non-mRNA vaccine was developed using Whole-Virion Inactivated Vero Cell-derived platform technology.

During the initial stages of the recent pandemic, the World Health Organization Listed the COVAXIN vaccine as effective in November 2021. 

BBIL says inactivated vaccines do not replicate and are unlikely to revert and cause pathological effects. They contain dead viruses, incapable of infecting people but still able to instruct the immune system to mount a defensive reaction against an infection.

However, a report published in Springer Nature in August 2023 found certain people were at a higher risk of adverse events after receiving COVAXIN.

As of June 2024, COVAXIN is available in about 14 countries, but not the United States.