Indian Immunologicals ties up with Australian university to develop vaccine for Coronavirus

Indian Immunologicals, a subsidiary of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), has inked agreement with Australia's Griffith University to develop a vaccine for coronavirus.

Hyderabad-based Indian Immunologicals Ltd (IIL) is already working with Griffith University for conducting research and development of Zika virus vaccine, which is currently at pre-clinical toxicology testing stage, the NDDB said in a statement.

Announcing the collaboration, Dilip Rath, Chairman of NDDB and IIL, said: "In this significant cross-continental collaboration, scientists from IIL and Griffith University will jointly develop a 'Live Attenuated SARS CoV-2 vaccine' or Covid-19 vaccine using the latest codon de-optimisation technology".

This technology looks promising for developing a vaccine for prophylactic, active, single dose immunization against coronavirus in humans, with an enhanced safety profile, Rath said.

"The vaccine is expected to provide long-lasting protection," he said.

Upon completion of the research, the vaccine strain will be transferred to IIL and the vaccine maker will work accordingly with the country's regulator Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) - to further conduct clinical trials in a phased manner.

Professor Suresh Mahalingam, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Australia said, "We are very excited to be able to work closely with IIL for development of this important vaccine".

"As this vaccine will be a live attenuated vaccine, it is expected to be highly effective by providing very strong cellular and antibody immune responses against the virus," he said.

The other benefit of a live-attenuated vaccine is a proven track record for economical large-scale manufacturing and well-known regulatory approval pathway, Mahalingam said.

Rath said the IIL is a prominent player in veterinary biologicals and committed to addressing critical public health needs.

IIL is one of the largest producers of Foot and Mouth disease vaccine in the world and was the first company in India to launch the purified Vero cell rabies vaccine for humans (PVRV), the statement said.

The death toll due to the novel coronavirus rose to 149 and the number of cases climbed to 5, 274 in the country on Wednesday, registering an increase of 485 cases in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry.