Amid growing concern over monkeypox, the Centre on Wednesday invited expression of interest (EoI) from vaccine manufacturers to develop a vaccine against the zoonotic disease. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has invited the expression of interest from experienced vaccine manufacturers, pharma companies, research and development institutions and in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) kit manufacturers for joint collaboration in the development of vaccine candidates against monkeypox and diagnostic kits for the infection, according to a PTI report.
The big development comes in the wake of India reporting four confirmed cases of the disease, while several suspected cases have come to light from across states.
The PTI report also stated that the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune under ICMR has isolated monkeypox virus from the clinical specimen of a patient which can pave the way for the development of diagnostic kits and vaccines against the disease. The virus isolation enhances India’s capacity to do research and development in many other directions, Dr Pragya Yadav, a senior scientist at NIV, told PTI.
Dr Yadav said that the recent outbreak has led to a “worrisome situation” and is caused by the West African strain of monkeypox, which is less severe than the Congo variant reported earlier. “The cases reported in India are also of the less severe West African lineage,” she said.
The EOI documents stated that ICMR is willing to make available monkeypox virus strain/isolates to undertake research and development as well as manufacturing activities using characterised isolates of monkeypox virus under the joint collaboration in PPP mode for the development of vaccine candidates against the monkeypox disease.
According to WHO, monkeypox is a virus transmitted to humans from animals with symptoms similar to smallpox although clinically less severe. The most common symptoms of monkeypox are fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes, which may lead to a range of medical complications.
Meanwhile, the Centre issued guidelines on Wednesday for monkeypox patients mandating a 21-day isolation period, wearing of masks, following hand hygiene and keeping lesions fully covered
So far, three cases of monkeypox have been reported from Kerala, and one from Delhi. The Delhi government has directed its hospitals and 11 revenue districts to follow the Centre’s guidelines on the disease.
Read all the Latest News and Breaking News here