New Delhi, May 13th, 2021: IIT Alumni Council announces fourth generation vaccine with ayurvedic adjuvant under MegaLab initiative.

“IIT Alumni Council announces India’s first antigen-free, novel vaccine which is self-limiting, locally manufactured and based on indigenous technology. The preservative-free vaccine is being coupled with an Ayurveda inspired adjuvant which will enhance safety as well as be highly efficacious. The end objective is to deliver a continuously upgradable vaccine which can outpace the virus thus helping to end the pandemic.” said Ravi Sharma, President of the IIT Alumni Council.

“We have made remarkable progress globally in understanding vaccines since August 2020. This has helped eliminate many of the vaccine modalities being investigated and we now know that a multi-pronged approach that will elicit an antibody response which neutralises a wide variety of virus mutants is the right target to pursue. Furthermore, the potential ability to access and build upon patented vaccine platform technologies could substantially accelerate development timelines.” added Dr Arindam Bose, a Connecticut based Key Thought Leader of the biotechnology industry, Chairperson of the Therapeutic Group in the C19 Task Force and Senior Advisor to the India Vaccine Stack.

“Western medicine has tried to subjugate traditional systems of medicine including Ayurveda & Homeopathy to an extent that their practice is banned in many countries. I have spent over thirty seven years now trying to understand the exact working of ayurvedic therapies. This work has led to the publishing of hundreds of research papers and grant of tens of patents. My colleague at IIT Bombay, Prof Jayesh Bellare was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Ministry of Ayush. I have agreed to license all my patents to help in the IIT Alumni Council’s mission of delivering a safe and effective vaccine.” added Dr Shantaram Kane, a highly respected IIT Bombay Silver Medallist in Chemical Engineering and a PhD from MIT. Dr Kane is heading the injectable adjuvant and oral/ nasal drops components of the India Vaccine Stack.
MegaIncubator supported indigenous stacks and MegaLab partners including Krsnaa Diagnostics, Kodoy, Koteleo, Platinae and Brew to divert available technology, laboratory and manpower resources to accelerate vaccine development and delivery. “The vaccination buses are getting ready and will roll out in time for the clinical trials of the injectable vaccine as soon as necessary permissions are received,” added the Managing Director of Krsnaa Diagnostics – one of India’s largest Covid RTPCR laboratory and a MegaLab partner.

IIT ALUMNI COUNCIL
INDIA VACCINE STACK TO CATALYSE MULTI CONSTITUENT PLATFORM FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
A vaccine stack of the kind proposed along with the genetic testing cannot be done at a mass level or at a low cost initially – so the initial drive will be restricted to IIT Alumni and their families/ staff who are based in NCR and Mumbai/Pune. “We are working to get the logistics and supply chain right ab initio. Each vial will be packaged in smart packaging which tracks its provenance as well as temperature history.” said Satish Mehta, Convenor of the MegaFund initiative whose investors are expected to shortly approve a Rs 1800 crore co-investment to the Rs 300 crore seed capital already committed by Social Funds.