New IISc-COVID Vaccine Effective Against All Variants Of Coronavirus

Warm COVID-19 vaccine of IISc-Bengaluru was found to be effective against all major variants of SARS-CoV-2 as per a study by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia, published in a peer-reviewed ACS Infectious Diseases journal.

One of the challenges in COVID vaccines like Oxford-AstraZeneca and Pfizer is the constant maintenance of the cold chain (cold storage in minus degrees) for its fuller efficacy. This may hinder the easy transportation of vaccines across the world.

‘Warm COVID-19 vaccine of IISc-Bengaluru was found to be effective against all major variants of SARS-CoV-2. This is deemed as one of the big achievements against the pandemic fight. ’

The Heat-Resistant Vaccine

The present study found that this IISc (Indian Institute of Science) - COVID-19 vaccine formulation is heat-tolerant as it remained stable at 37�C for up to a month and at 100�C for up to 90 minutes.

The efficacy of formulations was assessed in mice sera (blood samples) against different variants of coronavirus, including the Delta variant of the second wave. The vaccines were found to render complete protection against the virus as they triggered a strong immune response in mice. This is deemed as one of the big achievements against the pandemic fight.

"Our data show that all formulations of Mynvax tested result in antibodies capable of consistent and effective neutralization of the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. A thermostable or �warm vaccine' is critical for remote or resource-limited locations with extremely hot climates which lack reliable cold storage supply chains, including regional communities in Australia's outback and the Indo-Pacific region," says Dr. S.S. Vasan, CSIRO's COVID-19 project leader and co-author.

The vaccine may be anticipated to be available in the latter half of 2022 based on the speed of other COVID-19 vaccine developments. However, further clinical trials in humans are yet to be explored.

Source: Medindia