Covid antidote, VINCOV-19 successfully completes phase-2 clinical trials

Hyderabad: The University of Hyderabad (UoH), CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and VINS Bioproducts Limited together announced the successful completion of Phase-2 clinical trials of VINCOV-19, "India's first antidote and a cure against SARS-CoV-2 virus." VINCOV-19 is ready for market authorisation and simultaneous Phase 3 clinical trials, the researchers said on Tuesday.

"These therapeutic antibodies are the first in India and among the few around the globe. It is essential to have multiple options, including therapeutic antibodies, especially for severe clinical cases of Covid-19," Dr Vinay Nandicoori, Director, CSIR-CCMB, said.

Phase 2 clinical trials were conducted across multiple centres in the country on over 200 patients. It included testing of the antidotes against the Omicron variant to ensure maximum coverage against the virus and its known mutations.

In the trials, completed in September, VINCOV-19 was administered to patients with moderate severity of Covid. One group of patients was given VINCOV-19, along with Standard of Care (SoC), and another group was given Standard of Care (SoC) only.

"VINCOV-19 showed an excellent safety profile in these trials. There was a good and early improvement in the clinical condition of the patients administered VINCOV-19," the researchers said in a joint statement.