India develops first mRNA vaccine technology for Covid-19

The Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) has announced the development of the country's first potential mRNA (Messenger RNA) vaccine technology to fight SARS-CoV-2.

Among the leading vaccine technologies available today to fight Covid-19, mRNA vaccines are among the best. This mRNA in the host cells gives rise to the microbial protein or a part of it, which trains the immune system to evade it when the real infection happens with the same live microorganism.

Vaccines work by training our immune system to identify disease-causing microorganisms and eliminate them quickly when they encounter them subsequently. This is achieved with mRNA vaccine technology by introducing an mRNA of the micro-organism of concern.

CCMB Director Dr Vinay Kumar N. informed that the mRNA vaccine candidate and the technology is fully indigenous and devoid of any technology contributions from elsewhere. The vaccine is developed by a team of researchers from the Atal Incubation Centre-CCMB (AIC-CCMB).

Currently, the mRNA vaccine candidate is undergoing preclinical challenge studies to evaluate its efficacy to protect against live virus infection.

Dr Madhusudhana Rao, CEO, AIC-CCM, said, “The current war with COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light many vaccine technologies, and India’s vaccine programme is highly lauded. However, we lack the potent mRNA vaccine technology, as developed by Moderna or Pfizer/BioNtech to combat COVID-19 in the U.S.A and Europe. The developed technology is different from the mRNA vaccine being developed by Gennova Bio, which is based on self-replicating RNA.”