THD NewsDesk, Hyderabad: On September 15th, The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Aurobindo Pharma Limited declared a venture to develop a vaccine for SARS CoV-2 or COVID-19.
Following the signed contract between CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and Aurobindo Pharma, will collaborate for the development of several novel COVID-19 vaccines.
Three CSIR laboratories viz CCMB Hyderabad, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB) Kolkata and Institute of Medical Technology (IMTECH) Chandigarh are striving to develop vaccine volunteers for different technology programs. Aurobindo will manage clinical advancement and marketing of the vaccines.
Dr. Shekhar C Mande, Director General, CSIR, commented on this alliance by, “Joining of hands of premier CSIR labs with industry for the development of vaccines will amplify India’s efforts in indigenous vaccine development and also help in preparedness for future pandemics”.
Dr. Rakesh Mishra, Director, CSIR-CCMB discussed the development of vaccines, “Our labs are working on novel proteins for vaccine development that has the potential to address the need for a second-generation vaccine. We are happy to partner with Aurobindo who have proven manufacturing and commercialisation capabilities.”
N Govindarajan, MD, Aurobindo Pharma, added, “We are proud to join hands with CSIR for developing vaccines to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. This collaboration further strengthens our COVID-19 vaccine development efforts. We are already setting up a large-scale facility in Hyderabad for manufacturing COVID-19 vaccine and other viral vaccines.”
Dr Renu Swarup, Secretary, DBT and Chairperson, BIRAC commented on the collaboration with Aurobindo, “The partnership with Aurobindo is to serve the country’s need for a vaccine to fight this pandemic. The government is focussed on creating an ecosystem that nurtures and encourages new product innovation to address the most relevant issues to our society.”
“The SARS COV-2 vaccine candidate is based on the company’s proprietary replication-competent, attenuated, recombinant vesicular stomatitis (VSV, VesiculoVax) vaccine delivery platform.” (Express Pharma)
Besides this partnership, Aurobindo is advancing a vaccine for SARS COV-2 within its fully possessed US subsidiary Auro Vaccines. The Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), arranged by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT). Aurobindo Pharma’s COVID-19 is encouraged by the Government of India for vaccine advancement following the National Biopharma Mission. The hard work and the innumerable trials of the vaccine will provide the alliance to fight against the pandemic. With the updated technology and development in clinical trials, one can hope for the success to be around the corner.
