British-American companies join race to develop tobacco-based Coronavirus vaccine

Amid the race to develop a vaccine for Coronavirus, two companies- Philip Morris International Inc. and British American Tobacco Plc- are trying to use tobaccos leaves for developing a cure to the infection. In an unprecedented development, the deadly COVID-19 has killed 46,826 and infected 9,32, 214 people across the globe. 

According to reports, the plant-based vaccine manufactured by BAT was currently in pre-clinical testing via a U.S. biotech subsidiary.  David O’Reilly, BAT’s director of scientific research said that they believe that they had made a “significant breakthrough.”  He added that they stand ready to collaborate with government and other stakeholders to bring the experimental vaccine to clinical studies. the company said while the unit is a commercial business, its work on a COVID-19 vaccine will be on a not-for-profit basis.

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Meanwhile, Philip Morris International which uses the virus-like particle grown in close to tobacco plant to make the vaccine.  According to reports, the plant-based vaccine creates a response in the body which it would give to coronavirus without causing hurting the body. Another firm, Kentucky BioProcessing recently cloned a portion of COVID-19’s genetic sequence, which led to a substance that induces the production of antibodies. The antigen was then inserted into tobacco plants for reproduction, international media reported. According to BAT, the method generates the vaccine faster than conventional methods, reducing the time required from several months to about six weeks.

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Johnson & Johnson to develop a vaccine

Johnson & Johnson has said it had selected a lead candidate vaccine for the new coronavirus that would move to human trials by September and could be ready for emergency use by early next year. The pharmaceutical company has signed an agreement with the US government's Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to invest USD 1 billion in the effort, it said in a statement on Monday. J&J began working on the vaccine under investigation - Ad26 SARS-CoV-2 - in January using the same technology is used to develop a candidate vaccine for Ebola.

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