IAVI India

IAVI India and the Government of India partner for globally accessible vaccines and antibodies

Over more than 20 years, this partnership has helped establish several flagship national research initiatives as well as North-South and South-South collaborations for research and development (R&D) in diseases like tuberculosis, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and emerging infectious diseases like COVID-19.

India’s rising significance and commitment to health R&D has been pivotal in redefining the boundaries of biomedical innovation, in-country and globally. India is the largest vaccine supplier in the world, with globally competitive R&D capabilities supporting low-cost product development. India’s prominence in this area has enabled IAVI to create and strengthen a regional network of research centers of excellence that complement IAVI’s global scientific network.

At a glance

25+

staff at the office in Gurugram

investigators at the lab in Faridabad

20+

clinical research center partners

We focus on discovery research, translation & product development support, epidemiology & clinical research, and access

Discovery

The Antibody Translational Research Program (ATRP) at the NCR Biotech Science Cluster in Faridabad, Haryana, is a joint venture of IAVI and the Government of India (GOI). This first-of-its-kind dedicated antibody R&D program in India conducts discovery research across IAVI’s health areas and is a key collaborator of the IAVI Neutralizing Antibody Center in the United States.

Achievements:

2 novel COVID-19 antibodies isolated
4 Indian patents, 2 international patents
100+ envelope pseudo-typed viruses of Indian and 10 of South African origin established

Translation and product development support

IAVI India’s product translation and development support team helps address product development gaps. For example, IAVI and GOI co-developed national mission programs for COVID-19, indigenous vaccine development, and AMR.

Our capabilities:

Scientific feasibility assessment
Evaluation of emerging technologies and development plans
Risk and due diligence review
Market landscaping
Project and partner management

Epidemiology and clinical research

Our achievements in these two areas include:

Three Phase 1 HIV vaccine clinical trials in India. Among other achievements, these trials strengthened domestic capabilities by establishing the first globally compliant vaccine trial sites in India.
NARI-AIDS Rural Research Initiative in Maharashtra.Together with partners, we created community-based open cohorts (groups of people with a shared attribute/characteristic) to understand the dynamics of the HIV epidemic in rural settings. Our findings will inform product development and enable global access for future HIV prevention products.
Cohorts for HIV Resistance and Progression in Indian Children and Adults (CoHRPICA). This is a pan-India, multi-site, and systematic effort aimed at studying HIV in Indian populations of interest. CoHRPICA established a centralized national biorepository housing a diverse set of well-characterized samples. Verified and registered researchers can access the samples through this national biorepository.

Impact at a glance:

Facilitated the Government of India in establishing a pan-India network for HIV (19 sites) and COVID-19 (17 sites) clinical research centers.
Access to >2,000 individuals across various key populations, stages of disease for HIV; and >45,000 individuals for COVID-19.
A multi-institutional, customizable population database created, under GOI supervision and regulation.
Network of eight biorepositories including first state-of-the-art central biorepository for HIV in India, with >45,000 samples for enabling future research.

Access research

IAVI India conducts multi-pronged analyses of emerging needs across different health system programs and levels, to develop systems-level diagnoses and targeted pathways to strengthen and accelerate health care access.

We are also a close collaborator of the Exemplars in Global Health initiative, which studies India’s extraordinary performing public health strategies and innovations that are fast-tracking access to life-saving innovations. Resulting insights and lessons from exemplars are evaluated for scalability and replicability beyond geographies.

IAVI’s socio-behavioral research (SBR) initiatives in India have been instrumental in strengthening community engagement and support for biomedical R&D. Through use of innovative human-centered design approaches such as gamification, experiential learning and digital technologies, IAVI has been able to enhance communities’ scientific knowledge about disease; address informational and psycho-social barriers to research participation; and strengthen product acceptance, demand, and uptake.

Achievements:

Contributed to the National AIDS Control Organization led policy briefs on the National Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS and STI, and HIV self-testing.
Influenced Government of India’s policy decision on strengthening RSV surveillance (<5 inclusion) and creation of a working group for timely recommendations on new product adoption.
Developed six suites of gamified research and interventional tools comprising 24 games for implementation and evaluation across India, East Africa, and South Africa.
Generated data on unreached and/or hidden digital risk networks for engagement in HIV vaccine R&D, informing target product profiles of next-generation interventions.