Variants will keep coming: Dr. Drew Weissman during BioAsia event
Hyderabad: Dr Drew Weissman, a globally renowned scientist in mRNA technology, said on Thursday that a pan-Coronavirus vaccine was being developed to ensure protection against all variants of the virus. “We want to create a vaccine that will stop any Coronavirus from infecting human beings. We are developing a few and they look promising,” he […]
Hyderabad: Dr Drew Weissman, a globally renowned scientist in mRNA technology, said on Thursday that a pan-Coronavirus vaccine was being developed to ensure protection against all variants of the virus.
“We want to create a vaccine that will stop any Coronavirus from infecting human beings. We are developing a few and they look promising,” he said.
During a virtual fireside chat with Apollo Hospitals Managing Director Sangita Reddy as part of the 19th edition of BioAsia here, Dr Weissman spoke about pan-Coronaviruses, the state of costs in healthcare and the future of mRNA in therapeutics.
When Dr. Sangita Reddy asked about Covid’s next mutation after Delta and Omicron, Dr. Weissman observed that Coronavirus, like any other RNA virus, was prone to a lot of mutations. “The variants are going to keep coming as long as there’s widespread infection. We have vaccinated only 15 per cent of Africa’s population and we have low levels of immunisation in many countries across the world. Until the world is fully vaccinated, the virus will continue to mutate”, he stated.
On the measures to be taken to address the issue, he said: “You can keep making new vaccines every time there is a new variant. But it is important to note the low life span of these variants to keep up with this cycle.”
Dr. Weissman in collaboration with Dr. Katalin Karikó, discovered the ability of modified nucleosides in RNA to suppress activation of the innate immune sensors and increase the translation of the nucleoside-modified mRNA.
“When you inject mRNA, it kills the tissue due to severe inflammation. But we developed a new type of RNA that is not inflammatory – this RNA used in vaccines is incredibly effective and safe. Over a billion people received the RNA vaccines so far and there has been almost no adverse events,” he said.
Dr. Weissman also indicated an optimistic outlook for India in collaborations to build mRNA production sites. In his closing remarks, he voiced his opinion against misinformation on vaccines.
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