Pune-based Gennova Biopharmaceuticals mRNA vaccine

Subject :Science and technology

Section :Biotechnology

Context:

The country’s first homegrown mRNA Covid-19 vaccine developed at Pune’s Gennova Biopharmaceuticals has received emergency use approval by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for the age group 18 and above.

Gennova Biopharmaceuticals’ mRNA vaccine

It is scientifically sound and the most advanced technology, which has been proven safe and effective.
The challenge in front of Gennova was to make it stable at 2–8 °C to enable the democratisation of the mRNA-based vaccine globally.
Gennova already has a license from the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) to manufacture and sell the vaccine and has produced 70 lakh doses at risk.
After receiving EUA, Gennova can ship the material soon after completing all formalities.
The novel mRNA vaccine candidate, GEMCOVAC-19, is stable at 2-8 degrees makes it amenable for ease of deployment across the nation.
The vaccine will be available for adults above 18 years of age. The two-dose vaccine will have to be administered intramuscularly, 28 days apart.
Vaccines based on mRNA require ultra-low temperature conditions for storage and distribution.
India already has a cold supply-chain infrastructure that can handle refrigeration conditions for deployment of the vaccine.
Given that early mRNA vaccine developers couldn’t materialise such a product, freeze-drying the large and unstable mRNA molecule with the nanoparticle was a daunting challenge,” an official at the firm said.
CDSCO approved the vaccine for EUA based on its safety and robust immunogenicity.

mRNA Vaccines

Messenger RNA (mRNA) is a single-stranded RNA molecule that is complementary to one of the DNA strands of a gene.
mRNA, like most RNAs, are made in the nucleus and then exported to the cytoplasm where the translation machinery, the machinery that actually makes proteins, binds to these mRNA molecules and reads the code on the mRNA to make a specific protein.
So in general, one gene, the DNA for one gene, can be transcribed into an mRNA molecule that will end up making one specific protein.