US-based medical college ties up with India's BE to develop COVID-19 vaccine

While the countries across the globe have ramped up research to find a suitable cure or immunity to the novel coronavirus infection, US-based Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and Indian pharmaceutical company Biological E Limited (BE)  have entered into a licensing agreement to develop safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine. BCM said in a statement that Hyderabad-based BE has licensed the potential recombinant protein COVID-19 vaccine that was developed at Baylor.

The license negotiations between the two reportedly took place after initial discussions over the technology at Baylor’s and how it can contribute to vaccine production amid the pandemic. BCM will leverage its experiences from the past to develop and commercialise the COVID-19 vaccine candidate which is currently being produced using a proven yeast-based expression technology.

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Dr Peter Hotez, professor and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor said at a webinar organised by the Consul General of India in Houston, Aseem Mahajan last week that the recent information of India being the third-leading nation in terms of COVID-19 cases has sparked concerns of the disease is widely spread in urban areas of South Asia. Meanwhile, Mahajan told a national agency that the Indian healthcare sector is expected to witness a drastic growth and it is an opportunity for both nations to build synergies. 

"The healthcare sector is predicted to grow steadily in India and the US. Given the complementarities, companies in both countries have a great opportunity to build synergies including to partner together for global supply chains, joint research and manufacturing," Mahajan said.

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Hotez & team already produce SARS, MERS vaccines

Hotez and his team are already manufacturing vaccines for SARs and MERS. The novel coronavirus that was discovered in China in December 2019 is known to have similarities with SARS or MERS. Until the pathogen was named SARS-CoV-19, it was being referred by health officials as SARS-like virus. Therefore, Hotez and his team were able to quickly move on to creating a COVID-19 vaccine that led to its collaboration with large vaccine producer based in India.

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Inputs/Image: PTI