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Vaccine-maker Serum Institute of India is working on a vaccine against mpox, that was recently declared as a ‘public health emergency of international concern’ (PHEIC), by the World Health Organisation.
“In view of the global health emergency declared due to mpox outbreak, Serum Institute of India is currently working on developing a vaccine for this disease to cater to millions of lives that might be at risk. Hopefully, with the ongoing progress, we will have more updates and positive news to share within a year’s time,” said Adar Poonawalla, Chief Executive Officer, Serum Institute of India.
A PHEIC declaration is the highest level of alarm under the international health law, and often viewed as a precursor to a pandemic declaration, where the disease is seen to spread across multiple geographies. This time, the UN health agency has sought to bring global attention, funding and therapeutics to treat the disease that has been steadily increasing, largely in the African countries, observed epidemiologists.
This is the WHO’s second such declaration on Mpox, the last global emergency call being July 2022, when global health administrators were grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic. The global emergency was downgraded in May 2023, following a sustained decline in global cases.
Call to pharma companies
Earlier this month, the WHO also called on manufacturers to produce vaccines against mpox. Currently, Bavarian Nordic’s vaccine (Imvanex/Jynneos) is one of the vaccines, approved against mpox in countries including the US.
This is one of two vaccines for mpox approved by WHO-listed national regulatory authorities and recommended by the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE). The other is LC16, manufactured by Japan’s KM Biologics.
A WHO spokesperson added, the WHO Director General had triggered the process for emergency use listing (EUL) of both vaccines, which will accelerate vaccine access particularly for lower-income countries, which have not yet issued their own national regulatory approval. EULs also enable Gavi and UNICEF to procure vaccines for distribution.
Possibility of imported cases
India has not reported cases of Mpox. Though following a recent review meeting, the Health Ministry had cautioned on the possibility of a few imported cases being detected in the coming weeks. It was assessed, “the risk of a large outbreak with sustained transmission is presently low for India,” the Ministry had said, as it called for surveillance and disease management systems to be put in place. These included sensitizing health units at airports, seaports, and ground crossings; readying testing laboratories (32 of them) and ramping up health facilities for detection, isolation and management of cases.
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