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What is mRNA Biotech? Which Indian companies are likely to work towards developing mRNA?

03 Oct 2023 Zinkpot 186
  1. Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman, for their discoveries concerning nucleoside-based modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19, were felicitated by the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. 
  2. The mRNA platform created at Penn Medicine ignited a global renaissance in RNA biology research. Scientists in industry and at universities worldwide are finding new and innovative ways to use mRNA technology to prevent and treat disease, even cancer.
  3. Many vaccines use a weakened or dead version of the actual virus to stimulate an immune response against disease. Development of these vaccines can be lengthy and costly. Modifying them quickly if needed is difficult.
  4. In contrast, mRNA vaccines use a genetic code to tell the body's cells to produce proteins that train the immune system. 
  5. While the mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases prevent disease, mRNA technology can also help treat existing diseases like cancer. The platform's flexibility allows researchers to create mRNA cancer vaccines that activate the immune system to attack cancer cells.
  6. What is mRNA? Messenger RNA (mRNA) is a type of single-stranded ribonucleic acid that is transcribed from a strand of DNA, which carries the coding information for protein synthesis to be further transcribed and processed into functional proteins.
  7. The feasibility of mRNA therapy was established when it was successfully transcribed and expressed in mouse skeletal muscle cells. 
  8. Unlike DNA-based conventional drugs, mRNA have relatively high efficiency and low toxicity because they do not enter the nucleus to be functional. Hence, it has no potential risk of accidental infection.
  9. These advantages of mRNA enable the rapid entry of mRNA-based technology and products into various branches of biomedical fields which will benefit all aspects of human life especially millions of patients suffering from incurable diseases.
  10. Recently, the Department of Biotechnology in India has announced that the Omicron-specific mRNA based Booster vaccine developed using the indigenous platform technology by Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. Which was supported under the Mission COVID Suraksha got a nod from the office of Drug Control General of India for emergency use authorization, making it the second vaccine that India has developed using mRNA.
  11. A global report was released during the havoc of the highly transmissible Omicron variant that identified over 55 Indian companies including Biocon, Dr Reddy's, Sun Pharma, Reliance LifeSciences, Zydus Cadila, Intas, and Lupin to have the capability of working in the mRNA biotech field.

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