Mynvax: India’s Prospective Warm Vaccine

April 18, 2022

In India, a prospective vaccine against COVID-19 or SarsCov2 is being developed that doesn’t require refrigeration or stored in cold-chain storage. According to a study published in the peer-reviewed journal ‘Viruses’, the vaccine, in mouse trials has generated antibodies against various variants of the virus.

Overview:

This ‘warm’ vaccine is being developed by Mynvax laboratories, a Bengaluru-based company that was incubated at the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore.
It is a unique vaccine that can be stored at 37 degrees Celsius for a period of four weeks and for up to 90 minutes at 100 degrees Celsius.
Most of the other vaccines that are present in the market require to be refrigerated and can be kept at room temperature for only a few hours.

Studies conducted

Joint studies conducted by the scientists at Mynvax and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Organisation (CSIRO), Australia reported a 16.5-fold decrease in the three trimeric antigen-adjuvant combinations and a 14.4-fold decrease in BA.1.1 (Omicron) neutralization in the three monomeric antigen-adjuvant combinations as compared to the antibodies that are generated against the wild type of the virus. When this vaccine was tested against the Delta variants of SarsCov2, the decrease was 3-5 times. Trimeric and monomeric refer to the different shapes that can be used for the construction of vaccines.

About the vaccine

This vaccine contains a part of the coronavirus’s spike protein known as the receptor-binding domain (RBD) that helps the virus to stick to the host’s cell. This vaccine is being developed by Raghavan Varadarajan, Professor at the Molecular Biophysics Unit, IISc in association with Mynvax, a start-up that was incubated at IISc and was co-founded by him.

Conclusion

The low-income and lower-middle-income countries are very poorly equipped with cold storage facilities and the Mynvax vaccine can be efficiently deployed in these countries.

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