NEW DELHI: Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla met Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday to discuss the developments regarding research at SII to develop a vaccine against the monkeypox virus, sources said.
Last week, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had issued an Expression of Interest (EoI) inviting bids from private players to develop a vaccine candidate against the monkeypox virus. It was followed by successful isolation of the monkeypox virus from the clinical specimen of a patient by the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune — an ICMR lab.
In case of Covid-19 also, NIV-Pune had succeeded in isolating the virus which was then transferred to Bharat Biotech, a Hyderabad-based firm, that developed Covaxin, one of the vaccines against Covid.
Monkeypox has affected more than 23,000 people globally, with the majority of cases being reported from Europe. In India, eight cases of monkeypox have been confirmed till date and the number is likely to go up, sources said. “More than 50 samples, taken from the primary contacts of persons testing positive for monkeypox are currently under testing. Some of them are symptomatic,” said a source.
Vaccine against smallpox is known to help prevent monkeypox. However, its availability is scarce the world over. The development of an indigenous vaccine is necessary to deal with a potential crisis, NIV scientists say.
Monkeypox was first identified in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But for nearly 50 years after that, few cases of the viral illness were reported from outside the African regions where it is endemic. The sudden spread of the disease to nonendem ic r egions including the US, UK, Europe and India among others hastaken everyone by surprise.
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