The Union Government on Wednesday invited Expression of Interest (EoI) for developing a vaccine against monkeypox virus. This comes after India reported four cases of monkeypox so far.
The government has invited EoIs from experienced vaccine manufacturers, in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) kit manufacturers for joint collaboration in vaccine candidate development. monkeypox disease,
Also, diagnostic kit manufacturers have been asked to develop diagnostic kits for infection.
The last date for submission of EOI is August 10.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has invited bids from both and has said that it is ready to provide the monkeypox virus strain.
The ICMR statement said, “ICMR is legally entitled to enter into non-exclusive agreements of any kind with experienced drug, pharma, vaccine, IVD manufacturers for the purpose of R&D (research and development). The accompanying feature is through a defined agreement for manufacturing activities using the monkeypox virus. ICMR’s diagnostic kit for the diagnosis of monkeypox virus or isolates for vaccine development against monkeypox disease.”
Several pharma companies have initiated discussions with the government to develop a potential vaccine against monkeypox.
“Vaccine against monkeypox is in discussion with various vaccine manufacturing companies, but it is a very early stage for any such decision. If it is needed we have potential manufacturers. If it is needed in the future So the options will be explored,” the source told the news agency. ANI,
So far, four cases of monkeypox have been reported in India. Three of the confirmed cases are from Kerala while one is from New Delhi.
Monkeypox usually manifests with fever, headache, rash for three weeks, sore throat, cough and swollen lymph nodes.
Symptoms include sores, which usually begin within one to three days after the onset of fever, lasting about two to four weeks and are often described as painful until the healing stage if itchy.
In at least 70 countries where monkeypox is not endemic, outbreaks of the viral disease have been reported as confirmed cases surpassed 18,800 and the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a global health emergency.
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