THSTI and Panacea Biotec - Broadly Protective Coronavirus Vaccine

OSLO, Norway, NEW DELHI, India; 21 February 2021: CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, today announced the latest award under its $200m programme, launched in March 2021, to advance the development of vaccines that provide broad protection against SARS-Cov-2 variants and other Betacoronaviruses [1]. CEPI will partner with a consortium comprised of 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, a research-based biopharmaceutical company and vaccine manufacturer, to develop vaccine candidates that could provide broad protection against SARS-Cov-2 variants and other Betacoronaviruses. CEPI will provide funding of up to $12.5m to support the development of multi-epitope, nanoparticle-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 I/II studies as they seek to establish clinical proof of concept for novel vaccine candidates to provide broad protection against MERS, SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 and its variants. Novel technology platform Consortium partners THSTI and Panacea Biotec are using 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 'Äî unknown pathogens with pandemic potential that have yet to emerge. Enabling equitable access CEPI, THSTI and Panacea Biotec are committed to enabling global equitable access to the vaccines developed through this partnership. Under the terms of the funding agreement, THSTI and Panacea Biotec have committed to achieving equitable access to the outputs of this project, in line with CEPI's Equitable Access Policy.