CEPI, IVI And BBIL Partnership To Develop Chikungunya Vaccine
The Global Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and its Indian arm Ind-CEPI has given a major boost to the fight against Chikungunya disease. To promote the development of a vaccine against the disease, it has announced its agreement with both the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) and Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech (BBIL).
The consortium of IVI and BBIL will be funded by CEPI with up to $14.1 million for the manufacturing and clinical development of BBV87, a two-dose live-inactivated vaccine candidate from Bharat Biotech. The European Union’s Horizon 2020 program will support the grant.
To fund the set-up of GMP manufacturing facilities for the vaccine in India and to manufacture clinical-trial materials, the Indian arm, Ind-CEPI, will provide a grant up to US $2.0 million.
Moreover, a multi-center Phase 2/3 adaptive clinical trial will be financed by the partnering agreement. The trial will be conducted by IVI in Panama, Thailand, and Columbia, which will provide data on the immunogenicity and safety of the vaccine.
In line with CEPI’s core commitment to equitable access, the collaboration will follow the WHO prequalification procedures to make sure the vaccine is affordable and accessible in countries
where Chikungunya is endemic.The CEPI had called for proposals in January 2019 for the third time, and since the launch, the CEPI has granted over US $80 million to three Chikungunya vaccine candidates and two Rift Valley Fever vaccine candidates.
Bharat Biotech’s BBV87 vaccine
BBV87 is an inactivated whole virion vaccine developed to prevent Chikungunya infection. The whole virion is a strain derived from an East, Central, South African (ECSA) genotype. The standard pre-clinical studies of the vaccine have already been completed. During phase 1 clinical trials in India, the BBV87 vaccine elicited an optimum immune response. Vaccines developed using virions technology are accessible to even special populations like pregnant women and immunocompromised people.
The partnership aims to accelerate the development of a vaccine for Chikungunya and makes it accessible to those most affected by the disease.
“The development of an effective Chikungunya vaccine will be a game-changer in the global health sector,” said Dr. Renu Swarup, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Chairperson, Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC).
Dr. Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Biotech, said, they are immensely proud to be part of this partnership for developing an effective solution against the Chikungunya infection. Bharat Biotech has always been at the forefront in developing vaccines for diseases like Typhoid and re-emerging epidemics like H1N1, Japanese Encephalitis, and Zika.
“Through these late-phase clinical trials under GCCDP, we’re looking forward to generating additional safety and immunogenicity data from three endemic countries to support the use of this vaccine in outbreaks and routine immunization in endemic countries,” said Dr. Sushant Sahastrabuddhe, Principal Investigator and Director of the Global Chikungunya vaccine Clinical Development (GCCDP) consortium.
Editor’s Note; Partnership To Develop Chikungunya Vaccine, CEPI to partner with BBIL and IVI.
