Biological E’s Covid vaccine Corbevax gets WHO’s emergency use listing 

World Health Organisation (WHO) has granted emergency use listing (EUL) for Corbevax, the Covid vaccine developed by Hyderabad-based vaccine maker Biological E.

India’s first indigenously developed Covid-19 vaccine based on protein sub-unit platform, Corbevax formed a part of the arsenal in the country’s fight against the deadly virus. The company had supplied 100 million doses to the government of India which then were utilised in pan-India immunization campaigns, mainly in 12-14 year old children, BE said announcing WHO’s EUL in a release on January 16.

Corbevax was approved by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for restricted use in emergency among adults, adolescents and young children in a sequential manner from December 2021 to April 2022. It became India’s first heterologous Covid-19 booster shot for adults aged 18 and above in June 2022.

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“The EUL will help us to use the platform to continue developing Covid-19 vaccines as and when it starts impacting public health. We are confident this endorsement from WHO will bolster our global fight against Covid-19,” Biological E managing director Mahima Datla said. The company would aim to reach people in countries that face fiscal pressure when it comes to dealing with Covid-19. It is committed to provide affordable and accessible vaccines of high quality and the WHO EUL lays a path to make that possible, she said.

Next-gen vaccine

BE said it is working on a next-generation Covid-19 vaccine that is based on the XBB1.5 variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It would conform to the recommendations of WHO TAG-CO-VAC, the technical advisory group on Covid-19 vaccine composition. The candidate vaccine has “completed all required pre-clinical animal studies, which suggest that it will provide adequate protection against the currently circulating variants,” BE said.

The company recently received final approval from CDSCO to begin clinical trials of the XBB.1.5 variant vaccine in India. The trials will commence soon at various sites in India. BE has already qualified manufacturing infrastructure for producing variant vaccines to initiate supply at a short notice, it said.