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The second multi-centric programme consists of an interdisciplinary team of researchers from India, Brazil and South Africa who would investigate the impact of severe COVID-19 on transient peripheral immunosuppression and lung hyperinflammation conditions in TB patients for epidemiology and comorbidity. This team consists of Dr Subash Babu, Dr Anuradha Rajamanickam, Dr Banurekha Velayutham and Dr Dina Nair from National Institute of Research in Tuberculosis, India; Dr Valeria Cavalcanti Rolla from Lapclin-Tb/ Inifiocruz; (Dr Bruno de Bezerril Andrade from IMU, LIB, MONSTER/ IGMFIOCRUZ; Dr Adriano Gomes da Silva from LAPCLIN-TB/ INIFIOCRUZ; Dr. Maria Cristina Lourenço from LBB/ INI-FIOCRUZ, Brazil; and Dr Bavesh Kana, Dr Bhavna Gordhan, Dr Neil Martinson and Dr Ziyaad Waja from University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
This collaborative study is expected to provide valuable co-morbidity data pertaining to pulmonary TB patients with or without COVID-19 co-infection that is expected to be generated for better disease management.
Contact info:
am1@nibmg.ac.in
Website link:
https://dbtindia.gov.in/pressrelease/indian-scientist-partners-brics-group-setup- network-genomic-surveillance-and-study
DBT-BIRAC supported ZyCoV-D developed by Zydus Cadila receives
emergency use authorisation
Zydus Cadila received approval for emergency use authorisation (EUA) from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for ZyCoV-D on 20 August 2021. This is the world’s first and India’s indigenously developed DNA-based vaccine for COVID-19, which is to be administered in humans including children and adults 12 years and above. Developed in partnership with DBT under the ‘Mission COVID Suraksha’ and implemented by BIRAC, ZyCoV-D has been supported under COVID-19 Research Consortia through National Biopharma Mission for pre-clinical studies, phase I and phase II clinical trials and under the Mission COVID Suraksha for phase III clinical trial. This three-dose vaccine, which when injected produces the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and elicits
an immune response, plays a vital role in protection from the disease as well as viral clearance. The plug-and-play technology on which the plasmid DNA platform is based can be easily adapted to deal with mutations in the virus, such as those already occurring.
Interim results from phase III clinical trials, in over 28,000 volunteers, showed primary efficacy of 66.6 per cent for symptomatic RT- PCR positive cases. This has been the largest vaccine trial so far in India for COVID-19. This vaccine had already exhibited robust immunogenicity, tolerability and safety profile in the adaptive phase I/II clinical
VOL. IV ISSUE 10
VIGYAN PRASAR 6
COVID-19 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EFFORTS IN INDIA