THSTI bioassay lab has been selected as one of the seven centralized network labs in the world to facilitate COVID-19 vaccine development by CEPI; the only Indian lab to be given this recognition. Vaccine manufacturers will work through CEPI and will have access to validated assays to measure the efficacy of vaccines from Phase I through Phase IIb trials in these labs. All seven labs will use the same protocols, assays, and analyze data in the same way so that any vaccine manufacturer can obtain data that will be acceptable to regulators. The other labs in the network are Nexelis, Canada; PHE, UK; ICDDR, Bangladesh; Q2 Solutions, USA; Viroclinics, Netherlands; and Vismederi, Italy.

DBT-THSTI established the bioassay lab with support from DBT's IndCEPI grant. It is now a cGLP laboratory with trained manpower and a robust quality management system.

Read the complete press release from DBT and BIRAC posted by PIB here:

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1661807