CORBEVAX COVID-19 Vaccine: Will This Cheap, Effective, Patent-Free Jab Help Put an End to the Pandemic?

Wealthy nations are currently giving boosters and even fourth jab, while the first and second doses are unavailable in many countries globally.

There is hope, though, that a new vaccine known as CORBEVAX will help fill the vaccination gap, ScienceAlert reported.

The world has a new vaccine against COVID-19 in its arsenal, and at a portion of the cost for each dose. Now, two years into this global health crisis, the world has seen more than 314 million coronavirus infections and more than 5.5 million deaths all over the world.

Roughly 60 percent of the global population has been given at least a single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, although there remains a glaring, not to mention, an alarming gap in worldwide access to such vaccines.

As a virologist who has kept an eye on the pandemic closely, Maureen Ferran contended that vaccine inequality needs to be "of grave concern to everyone."

In an article first published in The Conversation, Ferran said if the world has learned anything from this pandemic, it's that viruses "don't need a passport." And yet, roughly 72 percent of vaccine doses were administered in high- and upper-middle-income nations and just one percent in low-income countries.

The CORBEVAX COVID-19 Vaccine

In the said piece, Ferran wrote, all vaccines against COVID-19 teach the immune system how to identify the virus and prepare the body to mount an attack.

The CORBEVAX vaccine, in particular, is a subunit vaccine. It uses a harmless piece of the spike protein from the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 to kindle and prepare the immune system for future encounters with the virus.

CORBEVAX is different from the three vaccines approved in the United States - Pfizer, the mRNA vaccines OF Moderna, and the viral vector vaccine of Jonson & Johnson's, which provides instructions to the body on how to produce the spike protein - because it delivers the spike protein directly to the body. However, it is similar to the other authorized COVID-19 mRNA vaccines because it needs two doses too.

This vaccine was developed by Drs. Maria Elena Bottazzi and Peter Hotez, co-director of Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development at Baylor College of Medicine.

Originally Developed as a Vaccine Against SARS Epidemic in 2003

During the SARS outbreak in 2003, the same researchers developed a similar vaccine type by inserting the genetic information for a fraction of the SARS virus spike protein into yeast to generate large amounts of protein.

Following isolation of the virus spike protein from the yeast and the addition of an adjuvant that helps stimulate an immune response, the vaccine is available for use.

The first SARS epidemic didn't last long, and there was just a minimal need for the vaccine developed by Bottazi and Hotez until SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, emerged in 2019.

Therefore, the two doctors dusted off their vaccine and had the spike protein updated to match SARS-CoV-2, formulating the CORBEVAX vaccine.

A massive US-based clinical trial showed the vaccine is a safe drug, well-tolerated, and more than 90 percent effective in preventing symptomatic infections.

This vaccine was granted emergency use authorization in India, and other developing nations are expected to follow.

Differences Between CORBEVAX and Other COVID-19 Vaccines

Ferran said CORBEVAX could be stored in a regular or standard refrigerator. So, it is possible to make millions of doses and distribute them easily.

For comparison, producing mRNA vaccines is costlier and more complicated as they are based on newer technologies, depend on highly skilled and experienced workers, and frequently require extremely low temperature for transport and storage, as reported in the Technology Networks site.

Another main difference is that CORBEVAX was developed to make the vaccine globally available. The main objective was to create an inexpensive, easy-to-develop, and -transport vaccine using a well-tested and safe approach.

The virologist pointed out that the key to developing this vaccine was that the researchers were not concerned with the intellectual property, nor did they care about the financial gains.

CORBEVAX was produced without substantial public funding. Instead, the US$7 million budget needed to develop the vaccine was donated by philanthropists.

Report about the development of the CORBEVAX vaccine is shown on The Print's YouTube video below:

Check out more news and information on COVID-19 and Vaccines in Science Times.