Bengaluru: Scientists at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have designed a promising vaccine candidate that can offer protection against different strains of SARS-CoV-2 both current and future variants.
Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Raghavan Varadarajan, Professor at the Molecular Biophysics Unit (MBU), IISc, and collaborators have been working on developing a heat-tolerant vaccine that can offer protection against different strains of SARS-CoV-2- both current and future variants.
RS2, is a synthetic antigen that combines two critical components of the virus’s spike protein: the S2 subunit and the Receptor Binding Domain (RBD).
The S2 subunit is less prone to mutations compared to the S1 subunit targeted by most existing vaccines, making it a more stable candidate for long-term immunity. The RBD is recognized for its ability to elicit a robust immune response.
According to the team, the vaccine candidate can be tailored to incorporate the RBD region of any new variant of SARS-CoV-2 that might emerge. Its high levels of expression and stability at room temperature can greatly reduce production and distribution costs, making it well suited for combating Covid-19.
Comments are closed.