E-Paper
mRNA vaccine tweaked to work against Omicron, says top govt expert Paul
Gennova’s mRNA vaccine is being watched closely since it is entirely indigenously developed and can be transported and stored in normal cold chain networks, instead of the ultra freezing requirements of the American mRNA doses.
Indian pharma company Gennova has made an Omicron-specific version of its mRNA platform coronavirus vaccine candidate, a top government expert said on Thursday, while adding that its development is proceeding “in parallel” with the original dose that is in clinical trials.
Gennova’s mRNA vaccine is being watched closely since it is entirely indigenously developed and can be transported and stored in normal cold chain networks, instead of the ultra freezing requirements of the American mRNA doses.
The platform has proven to yield among the strongest Covid-19 vaccines and doses developed through it can be updated quickly.
“The developers have tweaked the vaccine candidate for Omicron, and work on that development is also happening in parallel. Apart from that, another tremendous advantage is that they are trying that it gets administered intra-dermally using a special applicator. We are very proud that we have a candidate vaccine by Gennova, which is entirely an Indian development,” said VK Paul, member (health), Niti Aayog, during the weekly media briefing on Covid on Thursday.
He added that the vaccine candidate is in the final stages of clinical trial.
“Having an Indian vaccine available on this platform is for us an asset not just today in the wake of Covid, and Omicron; but also for tomorrow and beyond, for other diseases for which vaccines have alluded us,” he said, citing diseases like malaria, dengue, and tuberculosis.
“There are so many diseases for which we are hunting for an affordable, effective, and lasting vaccine. We treasure this platform. As an option in the fight the Sars-CoV-2 pandemic, it remains relevant just as so many other vaccines are relevant,” added Paul.
Experts said data needs to be seen to know how effective the vaccine is.
“Will believe in what is being said when we see effectiveness data,” said Gagandeep Kang, senior vaccine expert, and faculty, CMC-Vellore.
Pune-based Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Ltd is developing the vaccine with the support of the government’s department of biotechnology- biotechnology industry research assistance council (DBT-BIRAC).
“This is another vaccine in our armamentarium which is going to be useful, and establishes that India is heading towards becoming a vaccine superpower. Also, we must remember that because such a large population of our country is vaccinated, we are not seeing a disastrous third surge in terms of hospitalisations, and mortality,” said Balram Bhargava, director general, Indian Council of Medical Research.
Paul also said that this pandemic has seen great innovations that will help in future research and development (R&D).
“In this pandemic what has been encouraging to see is the development of vaccines based on various technologies, which is quite innovative. In India also we have had multiple technology options both at the level of R&D and manufacturing,” he said.
In August, last year, the drugs regulator approved phase 2/3 trial of the vaccine candidate.
