NEW DELHI, Feb 21: Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), an autonomous body under the Department of Biotechnology, and Panacea Biotec are developing a vaccine that would offer “broad protection” against SARS-CoV-2 variants and other betacoronaviruses, with financial support from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
“CEPI will provide funding of up to USD 12.5 million to support the development of multi-epitope, nanoparticle-based vaccine candidates and advance the manufacturing process,” a CEPI statement said.
It added that through this research programme, THSTI and Panacea Biotec will design and select the lead antigen through proof-of-concept preclinical studies, and undertake initial clinical development through Phase I/II studies as they seek to establish clinical proof of concept for novel vaccine candidates to provide broad protection against MERS, SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 and its variants.
“We are honoured to collaborate with CEPI and THSTI for development of a betacoronavirus vaccine that can provide broad protection against SARS-COV-2 and other coronaviruses,” Rajesh Jain, Managing Director of Panacea Biotec, said.
Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, noted that over the past two years coronaviruses have demonstrated their pandemic potential with devastating effect.
“It’s therefore vital for global health security that we invest now in research to develop vaccines that are broadly protective against variants of SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses before they emerge,” Hatchett said.
Pramod Kumar Garg, Executive Director of the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, said he looked forward to a fruitful academia-industry collaboration with Panacea Biotec in bringing out a vaccine product for global public health.
“We are hopeful that this collaboration will further enhance our capabilities to develop a robust platform and pipeline for development of products against other infectious diseases,” Garg said. (PTI)
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