Gennova Conducting Human Trials of India’s First mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine that can be Stored at 2-8°C

Pune: Pune-based Gennova Biopharmaceuticals is conducting human trials of its mRNA-based vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus virus that causes COVID-19. The firm said their vaccine, which is India’s first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine based on the messenger RNA platform, can be stored at around 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA jab, which requires ultra cold storage technology.

The messenger RNA (mRNA) is a single-stranded RNA molecule that your body’s cells use to make proteins. Basically, mRNA vaccine carries the molecular instructions to make the protein in the body through a synthetic RNA of the virus. The host body uses this to produce the viral protein that is recognised by the immune system, which makes the body ready to fight against the disease.

HGC019 demonstrates safety, immunogenicity, neutralization antibody activity in animals

Gennova teamed up with HDT Biotech Corporation, Seattle, USA to develop an mRNA vaccine (HGC019) since the first report of the SARS-CoV-2 genome was published. The vaccine candidate has demonstrated already demonstrated safety, immunogenicity, neutralization antibody activity in the rodent and non-human primate models. HGC019 uses a short, synthetic version of mRNA to trick the body into making the viral proteins and trigger an immune reaction.

HGC019 can be stored at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius

Niti Aayog member Dr VK Paul said they hope the Gennova’s mRNA COVID-19 vaccine undergoing human trials would be stable at 2-8 degrees Celsius – the vaccine developed by Pfizer/BioNTech required refrigeration at -70 degrees Celsius.

“There is a lot of hope,” Dr Paul added while addressing a webinar organised by AIIMS, Niti Aayog and the Union health ministry on Wednesday.

The Department of Biotechonoly (DBT) has given seed funding for the development of Gennova’s novel mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

The firm said HGCO19 has all the necessary arsenal to guide the host cells to make the antigen -spike protein of the virus, reported to interact with host cells receptor, and supported by ‘lipid inorganic nanoparticle (LION)’ as a delivery vehicle.

Advantages of mRNA vaccines

As per experts, mRNA is non-infectious, non-integrating in nature, and degraded by normal cellular mechanisms, hence, vaccines developed using mRNA platform are considered safe.

“mRNA-based vaccines are scientifically the ideal choice to address a pandemic because of their rapid developmental timeline. They are highly efficacious because of their inherent capability of being translatable into the protein structure inside the cell cytoplasm. Additionally, mRNA vaccines are fully synthetic and do not require a host for growth, e.g. eggs or bacteria,” said a release issued b DBT on December 11.

Six COVID-19 vaccines under different stages of trials in India

Dr Paul also revealed that India currently has six vaccine candidates that were under different stages of trials across the country. These include Serum Institute’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, which have already been approved for emergency use and are likely to be available for use next week. Other vaccine candidates are being developed or manufactured by Gennova, Dr Reddy’s lab, Zydus Cadila, and Biological E.

Source: ToI