ICMR Invites Vaccine Makers To Develop Its Anti-Serum Against COVID-19

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is now accepting applications from vaccine makers for developing and scaling up the ¡®equine antiserum¡¯ against COVID-19. To recall, the equine antiserum was isolated by the National Institute of Virology in Pune earlier this year.

Commonly used to develop vaccines, the equine sera uses antibodies from horses for protection against diseases. Antiserum is a blood serum with antibodies against a virus. Antiserums are injected to protect humans against an infection or treat it.

Common examples of anti-sera are the ¡°anti-rabies, anti-tetanus and anti-venom used against snake bites.¡±

ICMR¡¯s invite

(Representative Image: BCCL)

ICMR is now inviting applications from vaccine developers to make the equine antiserum for use against SARS-Cov-2 virus. For this, the apex medical research body will grant a non-exclusive licence to the manufacturer along with a royalty of 5% on sales, says a recent ET report.

The royalty will be paid to use and practice the licensed technology in order to ¡°manufacture, sell and commercialise this product,¡± says the report.

The move comes after the ICMR-NIV, Pune was able to isolate SARS CoV-2 virus. The virus isolates were then inactivated and this method of inactivation was standardised. This method will now be used for development of equine antiserum.

This is because the inactivated viruses were able to produce antigens in the lab experiments of the facility. Since antigens together work to form antibodies, the development is considered to be a potential safeguard from Covid-19.

ICMR recently also recommended all the states in India to start using rapid antigen testing in all containment zones and hospitals. Known as Standard Q COVID-19 Ag kit, each of the unit costs Rs 450 and gives out results within 30 minutes of conducting the test. The move was in line to step up Covid-19 testing in the country