Vadodara: The National Dairy Development Board ( NDDB ) on Wednesday announced that the Indian Immunologicals Limited ( IIL ), its wholly-owned subsidiary, has developed a live-attenuated needle-free intranasal booster vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 using codon deoptimisation technology in collaboration with Griffith University, Australia. The research work on the Covid-19 vaccine has been published in the world’s leading science journal, Nature Communications. “IIL’s needle-free intranasal booster vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 has demonstrated impressive stability and safety in extensive animal studies,” a release issued by NDDB said, adding that Covid-19 continues to claim the lives of around 1,700 people worldwide each week.
“The World Health Organization (WHO) is urging those at risk to stay up to date with their vaccinations with boosters. Among the various types of vaccines available, it is widely recognised that live attenuated vaccines generate a robust and broad-spectrum neutralising antibody response,” the release mentioned. “The pioneering work done by IIL in collaboration with Griffith University, Australia, introduced a new approach to combat infectious diseases using codon deoptimised live attenuated vaccines,” said NDDB and IIL chairman Dr Meenesh Shah.
“Our R&D team has put immense effort into creating this innovative vaccine and are proud of its proven safety and efficacy in generating a protective immune response with just a single dose,” he said. �.