Development Of A Live, Oral, Recombinant Vaccine For Cholera

IMTECH in collaboration with the National Institute of Cholera & Enteric Diseases and Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Calcutta has developed an oral recombinant cholera vaccine. This vaccine, first of its kind  anywhere in the world outside USA was constructed  following a novel strategy in which an avirulent strain was converted into a vaccine candidate capable of elaborating only the immunogenic B subunit of the cholera toxin using recombinant DNA technology. This candidate vaccine which has been found to give full protection in animal studies and completely safe has also been found to be completely safe toxicologically.

 The vaccine is undergoing  Phase III human volunteer studies currently.  A success in this would mean a quantum technological leap addressing a major health need of the country.