CEPI announces funding to develop variant-proof dose

BHARAT BIOTECH, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY AMONG PARTNERS WHO WILL GET HELP IN DEVELOPMENT, CLINICAL TRIALS

NEW DELHI: The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has partnered with an international multidisciplinary consortium of researchers and pharma manufacturers, including Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, University of Sydney, and ExcellGene SA, Switzerland, to develop a Covid-19 vaccine that could work irrespective of the variant.

The organisation, a fund that has invested heavily in vaccine research, manufacture and distribution, made the announcement Tuesday, setting aside $19.3 million from its $200m programme launched in March 2021 to advance the development of jabs that provide broad protection against SARS-Cov-2 variants and other betacoronaviruses.

“CEPI’s funding will support the consortium as it seeks to establish preclinical and clinical proof of concept for an adjuvanted subunit vaccine designed to provide broad protection against all known Sars-CoV-2 variants of concern, as well as future variants of the virus which have not yet emerged. CEPI will fund the researchers to conduct activities including immunogen design, preclinical studies, manufacturing process development, and a Phase 1 clinical trial,” a statement read.

The strategy could also be used to enable rapid development of broadly protective vaccines against other betacoronaviruses, as well as vaccines against a so-called Disease X, or unknown pathogens that can trigger a pandemic in the future.

“As repeated waves of Covid-19 infection remind us, we will be living alongside the virus for many years to come. The threat of a new variant emerging that might evade the protection of our current vaccines is real, so investing in R&D for variantproof SARS-CoV-2 vaccines is a global health security imperative. Our partnership with Bharat Biotech, University of Sydney and ExcellGene will advance the development of a vaccine candidate to protect against future variants of Covid-19, potentially contributing to the long-term control of the virus,” said Richard Hatchett, CEO, CEPI.

Under the terms of the funding agreement, consortium partners have committed to achieving equitable access to the outputs of the project, in line with CEPI’s equitable access policy.

“BBIL has successfully commercialized a universal Covid vaccine for adults and children. While current generation of vaccines is safe and effective, against currently known variants, it is imperative we focus on innovation for multi-epitope vaccines, where a single vaccine can protect against all future variants. Our expertise in product development and innovation, especially with novel adjuvants and platform technologies will add to the strong partnership with CEPI, ExcellGene, and University of Sydney,” said Krishna Ella, MD, Bharat Biotech.