SII in talks with Novovax to develop vax soon

Amid rising cases of monkeypox in the country, vaccine-maker Adar Poonawalla on Tuesday said he is exploring the possibility of importing smallpox vaccine in bulk in an emergency situation. Speaking to NDTV, Poonawalla said the Serum Institute of India (SII) is in talks with Novovax to develop a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine for monkeypox soon.

Giving details, Poonawalla said smallpox vaccines from Denmark’s Bavarian Nordic could be in India in three months. He further added that the Serum Institute has the capacity to bulk manufacture smallpox vaccines under license.

Poonawalla also said as a vaccine manufacturer equipped with technological knowhow, he is now looking at talking to partners and the SII is in talks with Novovax to see whether there will be a lot of demand or whether in three to four months it fizzles out.

However, he added that it could take more than a year to make a vaccine from scratch. Talking about emergency situation, he said the SII could always do the full finish of the product made by that company.

For the unversed, the vaccine for monkeypox is different from the vaccine for Covid, in which a vast variety of technologies are used.

Poonawalla said special containment facilities are needed to handle the monkeypox vaccines. “We are not equipped in India to do that at the moment. That can change…we have some facilities. We are talking to our partners…we could potentially make an mRNA candidate for monkeypox,” the Serum Institute chief was quoted as saying by NDTV.

In the meantime, Delhi and Kerala airports are on high alert amid monkeypox scare. The Delhi airport said it will refer international arrivals exhibiting symptoms of the viral infection to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital, PTI reported quoting sources. The travellers having symptoms like high fever, back pain and joint pain at Delhi’s IGI Airport will be sent to the isolation ward at LNJP Hospital, which has a special 20-member team to deal with such patients.

On the other hand, the Odisha government has directed all district administrations to keep dedicated beds in every medical college and hospital for the management of such infections.

So far, India has reported four such cases, including three in Kerala, so far. The viral zoonotic disease has symptoms similar to smallpox, although it has less clinical severity, an expert said, adding that there is no need to panic as it is rarely fatal. India.com