Government's support sought for COVID-19 vaccine that can stay at room temperature
NEW DELHI: Researchers associated with the development of a Covid-19 vaccine that can stay intact at 37 degrees C for four weeks have sought the Centre’s support for taking the project forward after early trials in animals have shown that it generates strong, protective, immune responses. The vaccine candidate is based on a protein that the virus uses to enter human cells. It also generates neutralizing antibodies — and has been developed by scientists associated with the Indian Institute of Sciences, Bengaluru, and Mynvax, a start-up based in the campus.
Researchers from the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram and Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bengaluru, have also collaborated for the project. “We have requested about `8 crore support from the Centre for process development, pre-clinical and toxicity studies.
Over and above that an additional `8 crore would be required for GMP manufacture and to carry out a Phase 1 trial,” said Raghavan Varadrajan, lead scientist associated with the project. He also pointed out that the development of the potential candidate could be crucial as it does not require a cold chain for storage and if successful in human trials would be far easier for distribution than vaccines currently in clinical development.
A peer-reviewed paper published on early trials of the vaccine candidate in guinea pigs says virtually all Covid vaccines currently in testing are stored in a refrigerated/ frozen state prior to use, which is a “major impediment to deployment in resource- poor settings”. The development comes even as the government has been carrying out an exercise to map out cold chain storage facilities to ensure the Covid vaccine, once available, is delivered quickly across India.