Four of India’s life sciences companies selected for funding as part of the Covid-19 Research Consortium by the Department of Biotechnology and the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) are from Hyderabad, making the city an emerging research destination.
The four companies selected for the funding are the University of Hyderabad incubated start-up OncoSeek Bio for developing in-vitro Lung Organoid model, Huwel Lifesciences for the development of rapid diagnostic testing kits, Virchow Biotech for the production of purified immunoglobulin G (IgG) at commercial scale from Covid-19 convalescent sera and production of high titers of equine hyperimmune globulin for the treatment of Covid- 19 patients on a large scale and vaccine manufacturer Bharat Biotech Ltd for utilizing inactivated rabies vector platform.
For the Covid-19 Research Consortium, the BIRAC and DBT received 500 applications in the first phase from industry and academia.
To date, 16 proposals of diagnostics, therapeutics, devices, and other interventions have been recommended for receiving funding support; however, the multi-tiered review process is still going on.
There is an urgent need to accelerate the development of vaccines, novel therapeutics, re-purposing of drugs, and diagnostics in response to the coronavirus outbreak. There is no much information available about the novel
coronavirus; hence answers should be found for critical research questions. Funding for research that can contribute to containing this outbreak also needs to found.That is why the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) announced COVID-19 Research Consortium and sought Letters of Intent (LOIs) with a focus on Novel Therapeutics, Diagnostics, Vaccines, Repurposing of Drugs or any other intervention for control of COVID-19.
The novel coronavirus has infected nearly 28,000 people across the country and killed 884. Maharashtra, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat are the most affected states in India. Maharashtra has more than 7500 confirmed Covid-19 cases so far.
Editor’s Note; Hyderabad top covid-19 research destination, four life science companies receiving funding for coronavirus research.
