India’s 1st indigenously developed protein sub-unit Covid-19 vaccine Corbevax gets nod

It plans to deliver over 300 million doses to the Indian government

Biological E. has announced that its Corbevax, India’s first indigenously developed protein sub-unit vaccine against COVID-19, received the approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI).

Corbevax is a “recombinant protein sub-unit” vaccine, developed from the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein on the virus’s surface combined with Dynavax’s CpG 1018 adjuvant with alum, which helps the body build the immune response against the virus. The vaccine has been developed by Biological E. in collaboration with Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development (Texas Children’s CVD) and Baylor College of Medicine (Baylor) in Houston, Texas.

The vaccine will be effective both in scale and affordability, providing sustainable access to low-and middle-income countries.

Biological E. plans to complete production at a rate of 75 million doses per month, anticipating over 100 million doses per month from February 2022. These capacities will enable the Hyderabad-based company to deliver 300 million doses as promised to the government of India. Soon, the company plans to deliver more than one billion additional doses globally.

“Our scientists at Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine are thrilled to help in the development of this vaccine, possibly the first covid vaccine specifically designed for global health,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, professor and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor and co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Centre for Vaccine Development.

Mahima Datla, Managing Director, Biological E. said, “Over the years, we have worked to make quality vaccines and pharmaceutical products accessible to families around the world. With this as our backdrop, we resolved to develop an affordable and effective Covid-19 vaccine. It has now become a reality.

She further said that ``The journey of Corbevax has been eventful and any words will fall short to appreciate and acknowledge the contribution of all our collaborators and their continued support in this endeavour. We would like to take the opportunity to specially thank our Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi ji for making vaccination a national mission. His vision and the advance commitments we received towards Corbevax were instrumental in our ability to scale-up and manufacture at such huge capacities. While COVID Suraksha Program’s endeavour to accelerate vaccine development played a crucial role in the initial development, the mechanism that was setup with the support of Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) allowed us to scale up to a capacity of about 1.2 billion doses per annum making the dream of accessibility – affordability and supply – a reality.

We deeply appreciate CEPI, BCM, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, DFC, Texas Children’s Hospital, and the Government of Telangana for their continuous support and cooperation during this journey. We also thank our volunteers and our funding institutions IFC and EXIM for the trust placed in us. The combined efforts & unceasing support demonstrate that we can collectively overcome any challenge.”