IISc’s ‘warm’ COVID-19 vaccine effective against all SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern: Study
Indian Institute of Science (IISc) developed ‘warm’ Covid-19 vaccine has proven effective against all current SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, a study conducted by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia said.
The vaccine formulations by IISc-incubated biotech start-up Mynvax triggered a strong immune response in mice.
The study was published in a peer-reviewed ACS Infectious Diseases journal. Researchers showed the vaccine formulations triggered a strong immune response in mice, protected hamsters from the virus, and remained stable at 37°C up to a month and at 100°C for up to 90 minutes.
Notably, this can be termed as big achievement as most of the available COVID-19 vaccines require refrigeration to remain effective. The Oxford-AstraZeneca must be kept between 2-8°C while the Pfizer vaccine requires specialised cold storage at -70°C.
The scientists assessed vaccinated mice sera (blood samples) for efficacy against key COID-19 variants, including the Delta variant which speed havoc across India during the second wave of coronavirus. Notably, World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned the world is now in the early stages of the third wave of COVID-19 amid Delta surge.
“Our data shows that all formulations of Mynvax tested result in antibodies capable of consistent and effective neutralisation of the Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern,” Dr. S.S. Vasan, CSIRO’s COVID-19 project leader and co-author, said.
“Since the start of the pandemic, CSIRO has played a crucial role in fighting COVID-19 by conducting preclinical evaluation of two COVID-19 vaccines including Oxford-AstraZeneca, tracking emerging variants of concern, and monitoring wastewater to detect hotspots in the community," Dr Rob Grenfell, SIRO’s Health and Biosecurity Director, said.
“A thermostable or ‘warm vaccine’ is critical for remote or
resource-limited locations with extremely hot climates which lack
reliable cold storage supply chains, including regional communities in
Australia’s outback and the Indo-Pacific region," he further said.