Seagull BioSolutions, a Pune based startup working on new biological technologies, is being funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), to undertake the development of Active Virosome (AV)-Vaccine and Immunodiagnostic kits for COVID-19 emergency.

Active Virosome Technology (AVT) is useful for the production of vaccines and immunotherapeutic agents. The AVT platform is useful for producing novel, non-hazardous & economical active virosome agents expressing desired antigens from the target pathogen. These will be used to develop a novel vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 infection and also immunodiagnostic ELISA kits for COVID-19.

The immunodiagnostic kits are expected to be ready for field trials by the end of Aug 2020 and approved by the end of 10-11 months. On the other hand, the AV vaccine is expected to take a longer time. However, given the emergency situation, the startup aims to complete the proof of concept in 80 days & complete preclinical development & start Phase I trial by the end of 18-20 months.