CEPI, THSTI and Panacea Biotec partners to jointly develop broadly protective Betacoronavlrus vaccines

Panacea Biotec Ltd today announced that Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has announced the latest award under its $200m programme. CEPI will provide funding of up to $12.5m to support the development of multi-epitope, nanoparticle-based vaccine candidates, and advance the manufacturing process.

The programme was launched in March 2021, to advance the development of vaccines that provide broad protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants and other Betacoronaviruses.

CEPI will partner with a consortium comprised of the Translational Health Sciejnce and Technology Institute (THSTI), an autonomous institute of the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India and Panacea Biotec, to develop vaccine candidates that could provide broad protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants and other Betacoronaviruses.

Through this research programme, THST1 and Panacea Biotec will design and select the lead antigen through proof-of-concept preclinical studies, and undertake initial clinical development through Phase 1/II studies as they seek to establish clinical proof of concept for novel vaccine candidates to provide broad protection against MERS, SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 and its variants.

Novel technology platform

Consortium partners THST1 and Panacea Biotec are using a novel technology platform with highly immunogenic antigens. Data from preclinical studies indicate that the vaccine platform induces both humoral and cellular mediated immune responses.

If the platform is proven to be successful, 'It could potentially be used to enable rapid development of vaccines against Disease X - unknown pathogens with pandemic potential that have yet to emerge.

Enabling equitable access

CEP1, THST1 and Panacea Biotec are committed to enabling global equitable access to the vaccines developed through this partnership. Under the terms of the funding agreement, THST1 and Panacea Biotec have committed to achieving equitable access to the outputs of this project, in line with CEPI's Equitable Access Policy.

CEPI is accelerating its programme to develop broadly protective coronavirus vaccines-a core part of its $3.5 billion pandemic preparedness plan-in view of the continued threat posed by new SARS-CoV-2 variants like Omicron. This partnership is the sixth to be announced under this programme, and more are expected to be announced shortly.

CEPI is an innovative partnership between public, private, philanthropic, and civil organisations, launched at Davos in 2017, to develop vaccines against future epidemics.

Before COVID-19, CEPI's work focused on developing vaccines against Ebola virus, Lassa virus, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus, Nipah virus, Rift Valley Fever virus and Chikungunya virus - it has over 20 vaccine candidates against these pathogens in development. CEPI has also invested in new platform technologies for rapid vaccine development against unknown pathogens (Disease X).

Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI) is an autonomous institute of the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. Of India. The mission of THSTI is to integrate the fields of medicine, science, engineering, and technology into translational knowledge, and make biomedical innovations accessible to public health, to improve health in India and globally. At present, there are four theme-based research programs in the areas of Immunology & Infectious Diseases; Maternal and Child Health; Non-Communicable Diseases; Multi-Disciplinary Clinical and Translational Research. THSTI has core capabilities for basic and translational research.