In response to the worldwide health predicament, global vaccine development programme has accelerated several advanced molecular platforms with about 240 vaccines in early stage of development, 44 in clinical trials and 9 already in the final stage of human clinical trials. While the world is eagerly looking forward to a safe and affordable vaccines there arises a concerns around few mutant variants of SARS-CoV-2, pushing vaccine development to paradox and challenging R&D efforts.
To rapidly monitor the emergence of new COVID-19 viral strains and evaluate their impact on vaccine candidates in development, Norway based Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has launched a consortium of Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID), a global science initiative, Public Health England (PHE) and the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) to further strengthen real-time global tracking and testing of SARS-CoV-2 sequences, following recent attention to a mutant strain of the virus casing COVID-19.
GISAID has taken initiative utilising genetic, phenotypical and virological data of SARS-CoV-2 to enable real-time progress in understanding geographical spread, circulation, and evolution of COVID-19. Earlier on January 10, 2020, it was GISAID, which publicly shared the complete SARS-CoV-2 viral genome to make it available for the global R&D purposes. The initiative made available over 200,000 SARS-CoV-2 viral sequences on its publicly accessible platform, creating CEPI genomic diversity report.
This story is from the January 2021 edition of BioSpectrum Asia.
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This story is from the January 2021 edition of BioSpectrum Asia.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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