The Government of India and Panacea Biotech have joined hands to advance the development of vaccines that provide protection against Covid-19 variants and other Betacoronaviruses, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Panacea Biotech said that The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), today announced the latest award under its US $ 200m programme, launched in March 2021, to advance the development of vaccines that provide broad protection against SARS-Cov-2 variants and other Betacoronaviruses^.

CEPI will partner with a consortium comprising the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), an autonomous institute of the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India and Panacea Biotec, for the same.

CEPI will provide funding of up to US $ 12.5m to support the development of multi-epitope, nano particle based vaccine candidates and advance the manufacturing process. Through this research programme, THSTI and Panacea Biotec will design and select the lead antigen through proof-of-concept preclinical studies, and undertake initial clinical development through Phase 1/11 studies as they seek to establish clinical proof of concept for novel vaccine candidates to provide broad protection against MERS, SARSCOV, SARS-CoV-2 and its variants.

Consortium partners THSTI and Panacea Biotec will use a novel technology platform with highly immunogenic antigens. Data from preclinical studies indicate that the vaccine platform induces both humoral and cellular mediated immune responses.

If the platform is proven to be successful, it could potentially be used to enable rapid development of vaccines against Disease X — unknown pathogens with pandemic potential that have yet to emerge.

Dr Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, said, "Over the past two years, coronaviruses have demonstrated their pandemic potential with devastating effect. SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that causes Covid-19 - will not be the last coronavirus to infect humans, and there's nothing to stop the next one being even more deadly or contagious. It's therefore vital for global health security that we invest now in research to develop vaccines that are broadly protective against variants of SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses before they emerge.”

Prof Pramod Kumar Garg, Executive Director of the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, said, "We are excited to be awarded this prestigious grant from CEPI. We are looking forward for fruitful academia-industry collaboration with Panacea Biotec in bringing out a vaccine product for global public health. We are hopeful that this collaboration will further enhance our capabilities to develop a robust platform and pipeline for development of products against other infectious diseases."

Dr. Rajesh Jain, Managing Director, Panacea Biotec, said, "We are honoured to collaborate with CEPI and THSTI for development of a betacoronavirus vaccine that can provide broad protection against SARS-COV-2 and other coronaviruses. With this collaboration and investment in scientific research, health security, and innovative public-private partnerships, we can achieve a safer and more prepared world. "

CEPI is accelerating its programme to develop broadly protective coronavirus vaccines—a core part of US $ 3.5 billion pandemic preparedness plan—in view of the continued threat posed by new SARS-CoV-2 variants like Omicron. This partnership is the sixth to be announced under this programme, and more are expected to be announced shortly.