Hyderabad-based vaccine maker Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Madison virologists and the vaccine company FluGen has begun the development of an intranasal vaccine for Covid-19, ‘CoroFlu’. This CoroFlu vaccine will be built on the backbone of FluGen’s flu vaccine, M2SR which is a self-limiting version of the influenza virus that causes an immune response against the flu. Virologists are planning to insert the gene sequences from the novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) into M2SR so that the new vaccine, CoroFlu will induce immunity against the Coronavirus.
CoroFlu vaccine refinement and testing in laboratory animal models at UW–Madison is expected to take 3-6 months. 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 the fall of 2020. Like M2SR, CoroFlu will also be delivered intranasally as this route of administration mimics the natural route of infection by a coronavirus and activates several modes of the immune system. Intranasal delivery is more effective than the intramuscular shots for inducing immune responses.
Sharing details about ‘CoroFlu’ collaboration Dr. Raches Ella, head, Business Development, Bharat Biotech said, “Bharat Biotech will manufacture the vaccine, conduct clinical trials, and prepare to produce almost 300 million doses of vaccine for global distribution. Under the collaboration agreement, FluGen will transfer its existing manufacturing processes to Bharat Biotech to enable the company to scale up production and produce the vaccine for clinical trials” and further added, Bharat Biotech has commercialized 16 vaccines, including a vaccine developed against the H1N1 flu that caused the 2009 pandemic.