The National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune under ICMR has isolated monkeypox virus from the clinical specimen of a patient which can pave the way for development of diagnostic kits and vaccines against the disease, officials said on Wednesday.
With India isolating the virus, the Indian Council of Medical Research also invited expression of interest (EOI) from experienced vaccine manufacturers, pharma companies, research and development institutions and in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) kit manufacturers for joint collaboration in development of vaccine candidate against monkeypox and diagnostic kits for the infection.
The virus isolation enhances India's capacity to do research and development in many other directions, Dr Pragya Yadav, a senior scientist at NIV, said. The development comes amid India reporting four cases of monkeypox — three from Kerala and one from Delhi — so far.
"The National Institute of Virology has successfully isolated monkeypox virus from the clinical specimen of a patient which can help in the development of diagnostic kits and also vaccines in future.For smallpox live attenuated vaccine was successful for mass immunisation in the past. Similar approaches on new platforms can be tried for making vaccines.
"The virus isolation enhances India's capacity to do research and development in many other directions," Dr Yadav said. At present, fluid inside the lesions on the skin are being used for virus isolation as they have the highest viral titre.