Medical university identifies vaccine candidate

23.04.2020

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University announced a potential vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus causing COVID-19.

For almost three weeks, the department of immunology along with senior professors have identified a synthetic polypetide that prevents the virus from entering the human cell or reproduce within cells, university vice-chancellor Dr Sudha Seshayyan said. Synthetic polypetides are important polymers in protein science that consist of a repeating sequence of certain amino acids or substance that make a protein.

“These compounds were able to bind the epitope of the viral gene. This means the compound is able to stop the specific piece of the antigen to which an antibody binds, offering protection against the virus,” she said. Nevertheless, all these were conclusions drawn by the institution as a part of the simulated docking experiments.

Immunology department scholar Dr Tammanna Bajantri along with senior professors Dr C Pushkala and Dr Srinivasan have been working on the reverse vaccinology -- the process of antigen discovery starting from genome information – and are now looking for collaborations to start laboratory experiments.

It will take at least a few more weeks for the scientists to do larger experiments in the laboratory before it is taken for animal studies and clinical trials. “The vaccine is at least a year away. What we are seeing now is the first step in that long journey,” she said.

In March, the state health department had urged the university to conduct a series of pharmacological and epidemiological research with help the government frame treatment protocol and policies. The university will identify partners it can collaborate for research on the vaccine candidate.