Calf serum used in manufacturing of viral vaccines: Bharat Biotech

Bharat Biotech on Wednesday clarified that while new born calf serum is used in the manufacturing of viral vaccines, the final formulation of its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin is free from all impurities.

"New born calf serum is used in the manufacturing of viral vaccines. It is used for the growth of cells, but neither used in growth of SARS CoV2 virus nor in the final formulation," the company said in a statement.

"Covaxin is is highly purified to contain only the inactivated virus components by removing all other impurities," it added.

The Hyderbad-based vaccine manufacturer clarified that bovine serum is widely used in the manufacture of vaccines globally for several decades.

It also stated that the usage of new born calf serum was transparently documented in various publications for the last 9 months.