Department of Biotechnology Mission COVID Suraksha Supported Biological E Limited Novel COVID-19 vaccine candidate – CORBEVAXTM receives DCGI approval for Emergency Use Authorization

What is the news?

Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has given Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to the Corbevax Vaccine for Covid-19.

What is Corbevax Vaccine?

Corbevax is India’s first indigenously developed Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) protein subunit vaccine.

Manufactured by: It is manufactured by Hyderabad-based Biological E. It was supported by Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) from pre-clinical stage through Phase III clinical studies.

Financial Support: The vaccine was provided financial support under COVID-19 Research Consortium, through the National Biopharma Mission. Later support was provided under Mission COVID Suraksha.

What is the vaccine made up of?

It is a protein subunit vaccine, which means that instead of the whole virus, it uses fragments of it to trigger an immune response.

In this case, the vaccine contains a harmless Spike protein. Once the immune system recognises the protein, it produces antibodies to fight a real infection when it happens.

Efficacy: The Phase III trials have demonstrated the vaccine to be safe, well tolerated and highly immunogenic.

Dose: It is a 2-dose vaccine administered intramuscularly and can be stored at 2ºC to 8ºC.

What is Receptor Binding Domain (RBD)?

A receptor-binding domain (RBD) is a key part of a virus, located on its ‘spike’ domain that allows it to dock to body receptors to gain entry into cells and lead to infection. These are also the primary targets in the prevention and treatment of viral infections, including the virus that causes COVID-19.

Source: This post is based on the article ‘Department of Biotechnology Mission COVID Suraksha Supported Biological E Limited Novel COVID-19 vaccine candidate – CORBEVAXTM receives DCGI approval for Emergency Use Authorization’ published in PIB on 29^th Dec 2021.