Corbevax and Covovax: The two new vaccines to be launched in India soon

The Union Health Ministry of India has recently announced two new coronavirus vaccines for the country and one anti-viral pill to continue tackle the COVID-19 more effectively. These two new vaccines are Corbevax and Covovax, and the pill is known as Molnupiravir. While the two new COVID vaccines are scheduled to be launched in India in the second half of 2022, the anti-viral pill is already in use and will be administered to patients with high rate of COVID infection or having comorbidities. It is also meant for use during any other Covid related emergency too. Here’s everything about these latest COVID-19 weapons. 

Corbevax and Covovax: How do they function? 
Corbevax and Covovax are the third and fourth vaccines to be exclusively developed in India. The first two vaccines made in India are Covishield by Serum Institute of India (SII) and Covaxin by Bharat Biotech. 

Corbevax has been developed by the Hyderabad based pharmaceutical firm Biological-E in collaboration with US based Baylor College of Medicine and Dynavax Technologies, and is the first homegrown RBD protein sub-unit vaccine of India. It contains a yeast protein of the novel coronavirus and once it is administered, the human body prepares to identify and launch an immune response against the very host cell of the virus. This recombinant protein-based technology has been previously used in Hepatitis B vaccines. 

On the other hand, Covovox is a nanoparticle vaccine, being manufactured by the Pune based pharmaceutical firm and Covishield’s production company Serum Institute of India in collaboration with US based firm Nanovax. A nanoparticle vaccine usually follows a protein sub-unit vaccine. However, the only difference is once it is administered, it directly attacks not only the targeted virus but also improves efficacy towards all other kinds of viruses. Moreover, instead of yeast Covovax uses a spike protein-based technology where baculoviruses (pathogens that attack insects) will be used to launch an attack against the coronavirus.  

Molnupiravir: How does the pill work?  
Molnupiravir, the anti-viral medicine developed by US based firm Merck, is currently being imported in India. It will be manufactured by 13 Indian pharmaceutical companies to treat adult patients infected with the novel coronavirus and also to individuals with comorbidities who have high risk of progression of the disease. However, as of now, the drug has received approvals only for restricted use under emergency situation. It had previously shown signs of reduced hospitalisation and deaths in high-risk people with early onset of COVID-19 virus by around 30 per cent during its clinical trials. 

Molnupiravir is effective when administered within the first five days of Covid-19 infection. The diagnosis includes four 200 milligrams courses, twice a day for a period of five days, i.e., a patient needs to consume a total of 40 pills. The drug is said to be effective in case of mild to moderate infections. While vaccines initiate immune response, this drug will provide resistance and stop the virus from replicating. 

Before India, Merck’s anti-viral drug had been approved in two other countries, namely USA and Britain. While Britain granted conditional authorisation in November 2021, the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) only recently approved Molnupiravir to be used to successfully treat mild to moderate Covid-19 infections in adult patients who may be at a risk for a serious disease.