Indian team gets grant for vaccine against Covid variants

THSTI is an autonomous institute under the Department of Biotechnology while Panacea Biotec is a leading Indian drug and vaccine manufacturer.

The CEPI will provide funding of up to $12.5m to support the development of multi-epitope, nanoparticle-based vaccine candidates and advance the manufacturing process. (Representational)

The Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI) and Panacea Biotec consortium has become the first Indian team to receive a grant of USD 12.5 million from Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to develop a vaccine that either works against Sars-CoV-2 variants or all beta-coronaviruses.

THSTI is an autonomous institute under the Department of Biotechnology while Panacea Biotec is a leading Indian drug and vaccine manufacturer.

The vaccine candidate is currently undergoing pre-clinical studies. Once the final toxicology study is completed for the pre-clinical trial, the vaccine will progress onto human trials. The consortium targets to reach the human trial phase in 18 to 20 months, said Dr Syed Khalid Ali, chief scientific officer and the project lead, Panacea Biotec.

This is the fourth grant globally under Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations’ (CEPI) USD 200 million programme launched in March last year.

There are four genera of coronaviruses – alpha, beta, gamma, and delta. The beta-coronavirus encompasses not only the current Sars-CoV-2, but also Sars-CoV-1 that led to the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak in 2003 and MERS-CoV that led to the high-fatality Middle-East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) cases since 2012.

“What we are trying to do is develop a vaccine designed to prevent all known and future beta-coronavirus infections including SARS, MERS, and Covid-19. These viruses have a tendency to mutate and result in development of variants.

“These variants might escape the existing immune response or a non-pathogenic virus might become pathogenic. A broadly protective vaccine will be effective against all beta- coronaviruses,” said Dr Ali.

Anonna Dutt

Anonna Dutt is a Principal Correspondent who writes primarily on health at the Indian Express. She reports on myriad topics ranging from the growing burden of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension to the problems with pervasive infectious conditions. She reported on the government’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic and closely followed the vaccination programme. Her stories have resulted in the city government investing in high-end tests for the poor and acknowledging errors in their official reports. Dutt also takes a keen interest in the country’s space programme and has written on key missions like Chandrayaan 2 and 3, Aditya L1, and Gaganyaan. She was among the first batch of eleven media fellows with RBM Partnership to End Malaria. She was also selected to participate in the short-term programme on early childhood reporting at Columbia University’s Dart Centre. Dutt has a Bachelor’s Degree from the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune and a PG Diploma from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. She started her reporting career with the Hindustan Times. When not at work, she tries to appease the Duolingo owl with her French skills and sometimes takes to the dance floor. ... Read More

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