(Credits: NIAID-RML)US-based Codagenix, a biotech firm developing vaccines, has partnered with Pune’s Serum Institute of India to rapidly develop a vaccine against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which has claimed over 1,600 lives across the world. Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine-manufacturer, told The Indian Express that the company has an algorithm, with which it has designed several coronavirus vaccine candidate genomes. Due to open-source data sharing among scientists and public health agencies, Codagenix has designed multiple coronavirus vaccine candidate genomes using its proprietary deoptimisation technology. Now, the vaccine viruses will be grown and tested in vivo by laboratories suitable for containment prior to clinical trials. Till today, 66 samples sent by the state have tested negative as per the reports of National Institute of Virology, Pune.

Source: Indian Express February 18, 2020 23:15 UTC