How Gennova is developing India's first indigenous mRNA Covid-19 shot

Where Gennova scores is that it has achieved to crack the stringent sub-zero temperature requirements

Speaking at the 76th session of the UN General Assembly last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “India has developed the world’s first DNA vaccine. An m-RNA vaccine is in the final stages of development.”

The announcement in the lofty halls of the UNGA in New York refers to a 15-year-old Pune-based pharmaceutical company, Gennova Biopharmaceuticals, the biotech subsidiary of the Rs 6,056-crore Emcure Group, which is developing the country’s first indigenous mRNA Covid-19 vaccine, HGCO19, that is now under advanced human trials.

The firm now aims to leverage this platform for developing vaccines for Zika, Zoster and even TB.