The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged people at risk to keep up to date with their vaccinations and boosters.
Hyderabad-based vaccine maker Indian Immunologicals Limited (IIL) on Tuesday said it has developed a live attenuated, needle-free intranasal booster vaccine against the Sars-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19, amid rising number of cases of the virulent virus across the world.
The vaccine has been developed in collaboration with Griffith University (Australia).
The IIL vaccine is developed using codon deoptimization technology and this work was already published in Nature Communications on August 26. Codon deoptimization is considered very efficient as a virus attenuation strategy and is also considered safe and less time-consuming than the conventional method, which usually takes several years.
“The attenuation is fully guided and the means are well known, and the attenuated virus is expected to present all antigens and mimic natural infection,” the company said.
“Among the different vaccine formats available, it is well known that live attenuated vaccines elicit a robust and broad-spectrum neutralizing antibody response,” IIL said, adding that its needle-free nasal booster vaccine has demonstrated stability and maintained safety in extensive animal studies.
The IIL said the danger of Covid-19 infection is not over. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the virus continues to kill around 1,700 people a week worldwide. The WHO has urged people at risk to continue with their vaccinations and to get revaccinated.
In 2022, Bharat Biotech developed an approved intranasal vaccine as a combined (heterologous) booster dose – iNCOVACC. The Union Health Minister launched this vaccine in January 2023. It is a recombinant vaccine based on an adenovirus (influenza virus) that has been formulated to allow intranasal administration through nasal drops.
K Anand Kumar, CEO, IIL, said, “This achievement marks a major step forward in our battle against COVID-19. The development of this vaccine not only underlines our dedication to public health innovation but also demonstrates IIL’s ability to embrace new technologies. We are excited about the codon deoptimization technology and its use in targeted attenuation of microorganisms to be used as vaccine candidates.”
He added that his vaccine would facilitate non-invasive immunization and that he aims to improve vaccination rates, ultimately protecting more people and communities.
IIL was founded by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in 1982. It has multiple manufacturing plants that comply with GMP norms and exports to over 60 countries. IIL has launched several animal and human vaccines in the Indian market and is now actively working on a dengue vaccine, which it aims to commercialize by 2026.
COVID-19 cases are rising worldwide. In mid-August, WHO said the SARS-CoV-2 positivity rate during the four-week reporting period from June 24 to July 21 rose from 7.4 percent in the first week to 13 percent in the last, across 85 countries.
Globally, JN.1 is the most reported variant of interest (VOI), currently reported by 135 countries.
First published: August 27, 2024 | 2:30 pm IS
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