British American Tobacco (BAT) , the maker of Benson & Hedges and Lucky Strike cigarettes, said on Wednesday its US biotech unit was working on a potential vaccine for Covid-19 using proteins extracted from tobacco leaves. Kentucky BioProcessing (KBP), the unit developing the vaccine, could produce between one million and three million doses per week starting in June, the company said, with support from government agencies and the right manufacturers. British American Tobacco said KBP, a division of BAT’s US unit Reynolds American, would develop the vaccine on a not-for-profit basis. The vaccine, currently undergoing pre-clinical testing, uses a cloned portion of Covid-19’s genetic sequence to create an antigen that is then inserted into tobacco plants for reproduction. The drug is yet to get US Food and Drug Administration approval.

Source: The Irish Times April 01, 2020 11:32 UTC