(Bloomberg) -- Ocugen Inc., a biotechnology company developing gene therapies to treat eye disorders, is asking for permission to test a Covid-19 vaccine developed in India in the U.S.
The Malvern, Pennsylvania-based company submitted an application to the Food and Drug Administration to initiate a final-stage trial of Covaxin, the shot developed by India's Bharat Biotech International Ltd., in several hundred Americans. Ocugen rose 1.9% in U.S. premarket trading.
While Bharat's shot is already being administered in 17 countries, it may find the U.S. a difficult market to crack. Unlike messenger RNA shots from Moderna Inc. and the Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE partnership, Covaxin uses a traditional, inactivated-virus technology. Those mRNA shots prevent symptomatic Covid in more than 90% of recipients, and Covaxin's efficacy has been closer to 78% in trials.
Still, some Americans may want a vaccine that uses a more time-worn technique, rather than mRNA or the viral vector that powers Johnson & Johnson's Covid inoculation. Some vaccine-hesitant people have said that the new immunization techniques were developed too quickly.
“We are very excited to take this next step in the development of Covaxin, which we hope will bring us closer to introducing a different type of Covid-19 vaccine to the American public,” Shankar Musunuri, Ocugen's co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, said in the statement.
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
Essential Business Intelligence, Continuous LIVE TV, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
