Vaccine research and development is a priority area in the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) supported through an important mission called the National Biopharma Mission (NBM).

 

NBM is an Industry-Academia Collaborative Mission of Department of Biotechnology for Accelerating Early Development for Biopharmaceuticals; being implemented by Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a Public Sector Undertaking of DBT aiming to create an ecosystem for innovative indigenous product development by researchers, startups and SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) to make Indian biotech industry globally competitive.

 

Considering vaccine adjuvant research as an important area for vaccine development, the Department of Biotechnology in collaboration with National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)- National Institutes of Health (NIH) has invited proposals for the discovery, development, and/or preclinical testing of vaccine adjuvants under the aegis of Indo US Vaccine Action Programme (VAP).

 

The aim of this call is to strengthen vaccine adjuvant research in India. This joint DBT & NBM-BIRAC call will leverage the funding expertise of both the organizations. This programme will support collaborations, both between academic institutions as well as between academia and industry partners. The aim is to build capacity for discovering and developing new adjuvants that can improve vaccine efficacy and also enhance career development. The intent of this programme is to foster collaborations between Indian and U.S. investigators to accelerate vaccine adjuvant research.

 

Activities associated with adjuvant discovery include: the screening of compound libraries, in vitro or in silico, to identify molecules capable of stimulating (human) cellular receptors or pathways that result in enhanced innate/adaptive immune responses; identification of molecular or cellular mechanisms-ofaction of novel adjuvants; optimisation of novel adjuvants through structure-activityrelationship (SAR) studies, involving medicinal chemistry approaches; and preclinical testing of novel adjuvants in animal models with pathogen-derived antigens or licensed vaccines to determine the safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of the novel combination.

 

The goal of adjuvant development is to advance novel vaccine-adjuvant combinations towards licensure for clinical use. Adjuvant development activities include: characterisation of immune profiles and potential immunotoxicity induced by vaccines formulated with novel adjuvants; improvement of an adjuvant’s in vivo efficacy and reduction of reactogenicity through formulation or modification of delivery routes; toxicology, stability testing, pharmacokinetics or adsorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion studies to generate data required for initiating clinical testing of novel adjuvanted-vaccines.

 

From this Joint Call, the Department seeks new innovative approaches that have the potential to transform the vaccine sector on a national or global scale by identifying and filling gaps in knowledge on the discovery/development of novel adjuvants that enhance vaccine performance without interfering in its activity. This Joint Call is aimed to support collaborative proposals that combine complementary and synergistic research strengths in any of the aforementioned areas. This call invites consortia-based concept proposals from academia (with/without industry) with already established/identified leads and explicitly outlined deliverables for further validation.

 

Indian investigators who are interested in collaborating with U.S. investigators not listed below must have the U.S. investigator contact either of the following NIAID program staff to discuss eligibility: • Wolfgang Leitner, Ph.D; wleitner@niaid.nih.gov ; 240-627-3575 • Kentner Singleton, Ph.D; singletonkl@niaid.nih.gov ; 240-669-5499

 

Additional information on the U.S. requirements can be found at the HHS Office for Human Research Protections at https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/.

 

Additional information on Indian requirements can be found in the Revised ICMR National Ethical Guidelines for biomedical and health research involving human participants (https://www.icmr.nic.in/sites/default/files/guidelines/ICMR_Ethical_Guidelines_2017.pdf )

 

Request for Application: ‘India-U.S. Collaborative Research Grants on Vaccine Adjuvant Development’ through online DBT eProMIS portal: https://www.dbtepromis.nic.in/ under the area Vaccine Research and Diagnostics, as per DBT format. Subsequently, two hard copies should also be sent to: Dr. Jyoti M Logani, Scientist ‘E’, Department of Biotechnology, Room No.516, 5th floor, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110003.

DBT in collaboration with NIAID has invited proposals for the discovery, development, and/or preclinical testing of vaccine adjuvants under the aegis of Indo US Vaccine Action Programme (VAP).