Leading vaccine maker Bharat Biotech on Wednesday, 20 May, announced that it has signed an exclusive deal with Thomas Jefferson University of Philadelphia to develop a new vaccine candidate for COVID-19 invented at Jefferson.
The novel vaccine was developed using an existing deactivated rabies vaccine as a vehicle for coronavirus proteins. This is, in part, because this vehicle or carrier vaccine is known to produce a strong immune response, and is approved for the whole population including children and pregnant women, Bharat Biotech said in a statement.