Ocugen shares get hit on slam of COVID-19 vaccine partner

 

• The small-cap COVID-19 vaccine developer Ocugen (NASDAQ:OCGN) is trading 7.8% lower today on below-average volume as experts raise ethical issues against Bharat Biotech, the company's vaccine partner.
• The company announced last week that it has signed a binding letter of intent to co-develop Bharat Biotech’s whole-viron inactivated COVID-19 vaccine candidate COVAXIN™, for the U.S. market.
• Driven by the partnership for the COVID-19 vaccine development, the shares of Ocugen have more than doubled in value for the past five-day period, with a more than a sevenfold rise for the past month.
• Latest reports from India suggest that Bharat Biotech, in its struggle to recruit 26,000 trial participants for the ongoing Phase 3 trial, has released a document with a FAQ section that has drawn ethical concerns among health experts.
• In its pitch to attract volunteers, the document says, ‘the investigators should inform potential volunteers that the vaccine would protect them against COVID-19’ citing potential delays for a vaccination program for a government-approved shot.
• Experts describe it as misguided advice, pointing to the risk faced by those receiving the placebo and therefore would be left unprotected. The editor of the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics, Amar Jesani, highlighted the potential impact on trial results. The complacent trial subjects, following the advice, will have a higher likelihood of getting infected with COVID-19, potentially leading to a better overall trial outcome, he explained.
• However, Dr, Venkat Rao, the principal investigator of the Institute of Medical Sciences, a trial site said, it was “better to get something than nothing” arguing that at least half of the trial participants would get the vaccine.
• A few days after announcing the agreement with Bharat Biotech, Ocugen declared the appointment of an advisory board to evaluate the clinical and regulatory path for COVAXIN in the U.S.
• Earlier this week, it was reported that the COVID-19 vaccine candidate from AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) was on track to receive Indian approval shortly after getting the regulatory clearance from the U.K.
• https://seekingalpha.com/news/3647906-ocugen-shares-get-hit-experts-slam-covidminus-19-vaccine-partner