IISc’s Hot Vax: Lab Tests Show Encouraging | Bangalore News

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BENGALURU: A ‘hot’ vaccine formulation developed by scientists at IISc in collaboration with biotechnology company Mynvax is effective against all current SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, independent evaluation of the formulation by CSIRO, Australia.
CSIRO, which conducted animal tests for the Oxford-Covishield vaccine candidate last year, found that the ‘hot’ vaccine helps produce antibodies that neutralize all current variants of the new coronavirus.
The results were published Thursday in the peer-reviewed journal ACS Infectious Diseases. This will pave the way for the clinical development of the vaccine, leading to human trials. The study was led by Prof. Raghavan Varadarajan from IISc. TOI first reported the vaccine in November 2020.
According to the article, the researchers showed that the formulation triggered a strong immune response in mice, protected hamsters from the virus, and remained stable at 37 ° C for a month and at 100 ° C for up to 90 minutes – up to the mark. of its’ hot vaccine label.
Most vaccines currently in use require refrigeration to remain effective – Oxford-AstraZeneca should be stored at temperatures between 2 and 8 ° C; Pfizer requires specialized cold storage at -70 ° C.
The IISc-Mynvax vaccine was designed by genetically manipulating a domain of the S protein, called the receptor binding domain (RBD), of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This domain attaches to the Ace2 receptor on the surface of target cells in the human respiratory tract, allowing the virus to enter the body and cause infection. The S protein of the virus contains about 1,300 amino acids, but the vaccine only focuses on a chain of 200 amino acids.
Human trials
On the following action plan, Varadarajan said that they have asked the government for grants / funds for phase I / II and phase III human trials in India. “We would need at least 30 crore rupees for the trials, and all I can say at the moment is that funding has been requested,” Varadarajan told TOI, adding that the results of the Live virus tests performed by CSIRO were very encouraging, he said CSIRO played a key role.
“Scientists from CSIRO at the Australian Center for Disease Preparedness in Geelong contributed to the study by evaluating the effectiveness of vaccinated mouse sera (blood samples) against major variants of the coronavirus, including the Delta variant which spreads currently in the world, including Sydney, “CSIRO said in a statement shared with TOI.
Professor SS Vasan, CSIRO’s Covid-19 project leader and co-author, said the vaccinated mice showed a strong response to all variants of the live virus. “Our data show that all of the formulations tested yield antibodies capable of consistently and effectively neutralizing the alpha, beta, gamma and delta variants of SARS-CoV-2,” he said.
Vasan told TOI in an exclusive telephone interview: “CSIRO will continue to work with IISc to develop therapeutic applications that will complement vaccination strategies. The lack of safe, effective and affordable therapies that specifically target this virus is an urgent and unmet need. ”

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