Major biotech company Bharat Biotech is working on the development and testing of a vaccine against COVID-19.
The vaccine, called ‘CoroFlu’ , is being developed in partnership with University of Wisconsin-Madison and US-based company FluGen.
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As per reports, the vaccine, which is currently in the animal testing phase in the US, is expected to be ready for human trials within the next three months.
The CoroFlu vaccine will be manufactured on the basis of FluGen’s flu vaccine candidate known as M2SR.
Based on an invention by the University of Wisconsin–Madison virologists and FluGen co-founders Yoshihiro Kawaoka and Gabriele Neumann, M2SR is a self-limiting version of the influenza virus that induces an immune response against the flu.
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Kawaoka’s lab will insert gene sequences from SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, into M2SR so that the new vaccine will also induce immunity against the coronavirus.
“Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad will then begin production scale-up for safety and efficacy testing in humans. CoroFlu could be in human clinical trials by October,” said the company in a statement.
Many organizations and academic institutions are working for development of a vaccine against COVID-19 which has claimed a number of human lives globally.