IIL, Australia’s Griffith University to develop Coronavirus vaccine

Bhubaneswar: Hyderabad-based Indian Immunologicals Limited (IIL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) will collaborate with Australia’s Griffith University to develop a vaccine for Coronavirus (COVID -19), said a statement on Monday.

Chairman, NDDB & IIL, Dilip Rath informed, “In this significant cross-continental collaboration, scientists from IIL and Griffith University will jointly develop a ‘Live Attenuated SARS – CoV-2 vaccine’ or COVID-19 vaccine using the latest codon de-optimization technology.

This technology looks promising for developing a vaccine for prophylactic, active, single dose immunization against coronavirus in humans, with an enhanced safety profile. The vaccine is expected to provide long-lasting protection.”

Upon completion of the research, the vaccine strain will be transferred to IIL and the vaccine maker will work accordingly with the country’s regulator – Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) – to further conduct clinical trials which will be taken up in a phased manner.

Rath gave a timeline of about 12-18 months for developing the vaccine as it has to go through several trials on animals and humans as per regulatory requirements.

He said that IIL’s mission is to develop and supply vaccines that support the One Health initiative.

IIL is committed to developing high-quality vaccines that are affordable. IIL is one of the largest producers of Foot and Mouth disease vaccine in the world and was the first company in India to launch the purified Vero cell rabies vaccine for humans (PVRV), the statement said.

Speaking on the research collaboration, Professor Suresh Mahalingam, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Australia said, “We are very excited to be able to work closely with IIL for development of this important vaccine.”