Isha Srisai Amara, 9, knows that her father has been fighting some bad guys. She tiptoes into his study every now and then and checks on him. She knows that if her father, Rama Rao Amara, does not kill them, many people will die. So she tries to be quiet when he is busy. But dinner conversations have become livelier. “The other day she asked me why some people do not get infected with coronavirus. She said I should study it,” says Amara, associate director of vaccine development, Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University, Atlanta, United States.
Owing to the lockdown, Isha is home all day, and while Amara wants to spend more time with her, he knows she will be most happy if he comes up with a vaccine for Covid-19. “We have started immunisations in mice,” says Amara, who hails from Kavali in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh. “These vaccines generate antibodies that can fight coronavirus.”
The results from the mice studies are expected in four to six weeks. Amara and his team, including researchers Sailaja Gangadhara, Nanda Kishore Routhu, Ayalensh Shiferaw and Narayanaiah Cheedarla, are working on two vaccine platforms individually and in combination—modified vaccinia virus ankara (MVA) and DNA. “Then we will test for protection against coronavirus in monkeys and will start working towards human testing,” he says. “The goal is to induce neutralising antibodies that can block the infection in people. We also pay attention to inducing responses that last for a long time without needing frequent booster immunisations.’’
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The Emory team hopes to tackle mutations as well. “We have not studied any mutations yet. Based on the data I have seen so far, it does not appear that the virus is changing much. But it is too early to say. Our vaccine approach will also focus on targeting the virus even if it changes,’’ says Amara, who is also the Charles Howard Candler professor in the department of microbiology and immunology at Emory University.
Like other Covid-19 vaccines being developed across the world, his vaccine could also take 18 months. “We need to go through three phases of human testing,” says Amara. “It can be faster if we come up with an innovative way of human testing.’’
A lot also depends on the results in mice, he says. “If they are encouraging, we can rapidly move towards manufacture and human testing,” says Amara. “The good thing is that the (MVA) vaccine platform we are using has been shown to be safe in people. A similar platform was used against SARS-CoV (in 2002) that showed protection in animal models.’’
As I am about to wrap up the interview, Amara points out something important: “My wife, Lakshmi Chennareddi, works from home owing to Covid-19. And, she singlehandedly takes care of our home and Isha. Without her help, it would be impossible for me to focus on vaccine work.”
Talking to Amara, you gain as much insights on life as about the virus.