CSIR and Aurobindo Pharma partner to develop Covid-19 vaccine

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Aurobindo Pharma Limited have announced a collaboration to develop Covid-19 vaccines.

As per the agreement between CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, and the Hyderabad based pharma firm, the partnership is for the development of several novel Covid-19 vaccines.

Three CSIR labs – CCMB Hyderabad, Institute of Medical Technology (IMTECH), Chandigarh and Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB), Kolkata are developing vaccine candidates using different technology platforms. Aurobindo will undertake clinical development and commercialization of the vaccines.

“Joining of hands of premier CSIR labs with industry for the development of vaccines will amplify India’s efforts in indigenous vaccine development and also help in preparedness for future pandemics,” Dr Shekhar C Mande, Director General, CSIR, said on Tuesday.

According to Dr. Rakesh Mishra, Director, CSIR-CCMB their “labs are working on novel proteins for vaccine development that has the potential to address the need for a second-generation vaccine.”

N Govindarajan, managing director, Aurobindo Pharma Limited, said, “This collaboration further strengthens our Covid-19 vaccine development efforts. We are setting up a large-scale facility in Hyderabad for manufacturing Covid-19 vaccine and other viral vaccines.”

Besides this collaboration, Aurobindo is developing a vaccine for SARS COV-2 through its wholly-owned US subsidiary Auro Vaccines. The SARS COV-2 vaccine candidate is based on the company’s proprietary replication-competent, attenuated, recombinant vesicular stomatitis (VSV, VesiculoVax™) vaccine delivery platform, a press release said.