A startup incubated at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, is developing a Covid-19 vaccine that can be stored at 37 degrees Celsius, a development that could be a game changer for India, which lacks sufficient supply chain facilities. cold.
“All (Covid) vaccine candidates in clinical trials currently require refrigerated temperatures of at least four degrees. Ours, in principle, would not, ”said biophysicist Raghavan Varadarajan, who runs the startup Mynvax. DH.
“For Covid-19, no one has shown equivalent temperature data. We have exposed it to temperatures much higher than 37 degrees for shorter periods of time, and it was fine. “
The heat-tolerant vaccine can also withstand temperatures of 70 ° C for approximately 16 hours. By comparison, the favorite, AstraZeneca-Oxford’s Covishield vaccine, made by the Serum Institute in Pune, will need to be refrigerated at 2-8 degrees.
To put things in perspective, Karnataka has 2,900 cold chain points. Every year up to 10.52 lakhs of children up to 16 years of age are vaccinated in routine immunization programs, in addition to pregnant women.
But with the Covid-19 vaccine, the state needs cold chain points that can serve its entire estimated population of Rs 7.07 crore.
Varadarajan’s team has carried out numerous animal tests in mice and guinea pigs with promising results. Currently, challenge studies in hamsters are in progress, and animal trials are expected to be completed in December. The final formulation will then be advanced for process development, animal safety and toxicity studies and, subsequently, clinical trials.
Mynvax, co-founded by Varadarajan, recently received some funding from the IISc, but most of the Covid-19 vaccine work done so far has been carried out with the startup’s own funds, Varadarajan told DH.
The professor of molecular biophysics said that 15 million rupees are required for the vaccine to be administered in human clinical trials. If all goes well, the vaccine can be licensed by mid-2022, Varadarajan said.
“Once we can secure sufficient funding, we will convert it to clinical trials. At this time, we have not yet received the funds to carry it out, ”he said, adding that immunogenicity studies have been completed to see what kind of antibodies are produced.
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