The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) decided to provide financial support to development of vaccine against COVID-19 by three leading Indian biotech companies, Serum institute of India, Pune, Bharat Biotech International, Hyderabad and Cadila Healthcare, Mumbai.

DBT made this announcement in a press statement after evaluating over 500 proposals from Indian companies to develop vaccines, diagnostic kits, personal protective equipment (PPE) and other medical supplies needed to fight the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“Funding support has been recommended to Cadila Healthcare Ltd for advancing the development of a DNA Vaccine candidate against novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and to Bharat Biotech International Ltd. for COVID-19 vaccine candidate utilizing the inactivated rabies vector platform,” the DBT statement said.

World’s largest vaccine manufacturer, Serum Institute, will get funds to conduct the Phase 3 clinical trials of its recombinant BCG vaccine planned to be taken up in high-risk populations. Recent studies indicate that countries with mandatory BCG ( Bacille Calmette-Guerin) vaccination used against tuberculosis may have beneficial effects in resisting the virulence of COVID-19 infection.

Serum Institute CEO, Mr Adar Poonawalla said the BCG trials to check whether it boosts immunity will start in Maharashtra from Pune in the next two weeks. Over 2,000 to 3,000 vulnerable high-risk people like elders, healthcare workers and patients with co-morbid conditions like diabetes and cardio issues will be enrolled in the first phase.

DBT secretary Dr Renu Swarup said the government is taking a multifaceted approach to ensure that vaccine companies utilizing different platforms and at different stages of development are fast tracked through a research consortium under funding from the National Biopharma Mission, an initiative launched in 2017 to support development of vaccines and drugs.

Government has designated DBT as the Nodal Agency for vaccine development againt COVID-19. And DBT’s not-for-profit company, BIRAC(Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council) is spearheading DBT’s efforts to identify the latest technologies to assist this endeavor. BIRAC’s first call that ended on March 30,2020 got around 500 applications from academia and industry.

The multi-tiered review process is ongoing and till date 16 proposals of devices, diagnostics, vaccine candidates, therapeutics and other interventions have been recommended for receiving funding support, it said.

Both repurposing of existing vaccine companies for immediate protection of high-risk groups and novel vaccine candidate development were considered while selecting proposals under this call.

In other developments, to boost indigenous production and to scale-up the production of molecular and rapid diagnostic tests, Mylab Discovery Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Huwel Lifesciences, Ubio Biotechnology Systems Pvt. Ltd., Dhiti Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd., MagGenome Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Bigtec Pvt. Ltd. and Yaathum Biotech Pvt. Ltd. will also receive funding, the statement added.

A common shared facility to manufacture diagnostic kits and ventilators will be established at Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ) under National Biopharma Mission of DBT to provide scaled-up production capacity to different manufacturers, it added. Development and deployment of contactless, affordable thermopile-based ultrasonic sensors for screening of COVID-19 suspects and indigenous production of novel PPE for healthcare professionals will also be supported under the initiative.

DBT secretary Dr Renu Swarup said the government is taking a multifaceted approach to ensure that vaccine companies utilizing different platforms and at different stages of development are fast tracked through a research consortium under funding from the National Biopharma Mission, an initiative launched in 2017 to support development of vaccines and drugs.