Corbevax Vaccine

Context

  • Recently, India has placed an advance order to block 300 million doses of a new Covid-19 vaccine, Corbevax, from Hyderabad-based Company Biological E.

What is Corbevax Vaccine?

  • It is a “recombinant protein sub-unit” vaccine, which means it is made up of a specific part of SARS-CoV-2 i.e. the spike protein on the virus’s surface. Corbevax Vaccine
  • It is indigenously produced as its beginning can be traced to the Baylor College of Medicine’s National School of Tropical Medicine.
    • The School had been working on recombinant protein vaccines for coronaviruses SARS and MERS for a decade.
  • It is a protein sub-unit vaccine, similar to inactivated whole-cell vaccines such as Covaxin, and does not contain live components of the virus.

Working of Corbevax Vaccine

  • The spike protein allows the virus to enter the cells in the body so that it can replicate and cause disease.
  • When this protein alone is given to the body, it is not expected to be harmful as the rest of the virus is absent.
  • The body is expected to develop an immune response against the injected spike protein.
  • When the real virus attempts to infect the body, it will already have an immune response ready that will make it unlikely for the person to fall severely ill.
  • It will be among the first Covid-19 vaccines to use this platform.

How Corbevax Vaccine is different from others?

  • The Covid-19 vaccines approved so far are either mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) or viral vector vaccines (AstraZeneca-Oxford/Covishield, Johnson & Johnson and Sputnik V) or inactivated vaccines (Covaxin, Sinovac-CoronaVac and Sinopharm’s SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine–Vero Cell).
  • The inactivated vaccines, which include killed particles of the whole SARS-CoV-2 virus, attempt to target the entire structure of the virus.
  • Viral vector and mRNA vaccines use a code to induce our cells to make the spike proteins against which the bodies have to build immunity.
  • As it is made using a low-cost platform, it is also expected to be among the cheapest available in the country.

Importance of Corbevax Vaccine

  • It is the first time the Indian government has placed an order for a vaccine that has not received emergency use authorisation.
  • The Centre has provided major pre-clinical and clinical trial support towards the vaccine’s development, including a grant-in-aid of Rs 100 crore from the Department of Biotechnology.

Source: IE

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