Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple new variants with enhanced transmissibility and increased virulence have emerged, causing repeated surges in case numbers and hospitalizations. Against this backdrop, a universal COVID-19 vaccine could be a game-changer, especially in highly populated developing countries like India, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has recently partnered with the consortium of India-based Bharat Biotech, University of Sydney and ExcellGene to develop “variantproof” COVID-19 vaccine. CEPI is backing the consortium with $19.3 million to establish preclinical and clinical proof of concept.

Since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, 44.6 million individuals have been affected by COVID-19 in India, and about half a million have died as a result. GlobalData’s ‘Pharmaceutical Intelligence Center’ states that India has the second highest number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, after the US. Though there are some FDA-approved antiviral treatments, including monoclonal antibodies, which can effectively reduce the chances of being hospitalized/ mortality from the disease, the consensus is that vaccination is the best method for controlling the rising cases.

The COVID-19 market in India is mainly dominated by vaccines rather than therapeutics. Globally, there are 40 marketed COVID-19 vaccines, nine of which are marketed in India (Corbevax, Covaxin, Covishield, Covovax, Gemcovac, Incovacc, Sputnik Light, Sputnik-V, ZyCov-D). Among these, Serum Institute of India’s (SII) Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin have gained widespread use.

Dr. Pavan Sunkireddy, Pharma Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “For most of the existing vaccines for SARS-CoV-2, the duration of protection against the virus is unclear. Hence, there is a need for multiple boosters. Many vaccines have shown varied and limited efficacies against the different variants of SARS-CoV-2.

“India has spent about $2.3 billion until December 2020 to procure different COVID-19 vaccines. In addition, the government has allotted $4.09 billion in 2021-2022 union budget for COVID-19 vaccination, a number which will continue to grow with the need for additional boosters in the future.  Thus, investing in a universal COVID-19 vaccine could prove better for public health as well as more cost-effective for the government in the long-term.”

Scientists are investigating various vaccine technologies to develop a universal vaccine for SARS-CoV-2. However, the challenge of developing a universal vaccine is complex as the areas of the virus targeted by the COVID-19 vaccines developed in early stages have since mutated in subsequent variants, a phenomenon known as “vaccine escape.”

A universal vaccine must target common areas of the virus that are less likely to be impacted by these types of mutations. To date, no variant-proof vaccines in development have yet progressed beyond Phase I clinical trials (for example, Gritstone Bio’s mRNA vaccine CORAL), but the results of the studies thus far seem promising.

Dr. Sunkireddy concludes: “COVID-19 variants continue to cause multiple deadly outbreaks. Though most of the eligible Indian population is vaccinated, given that the available vaccines are not equally effective against all variants, another outbreak can occur. As a result, in developing countries like India, universal vaccine could be a great asset not only in reducing the cost of vaccination in the long-term but also in offering a wide range of protection.”