COVID-19 vaccine ‘Bangavax’ secures US patent
Staff Reporter :
Globe Biotech Limited, a concern of Globe Pharmaceutical Group of Companies Ltd., has been awarded a United States patent for its COVID-19 vaccine, “Bangavax.”
The Dhaka-based company, established in 2015 with a cutting-edge research laboratory, specializes in biologics, novel medicines, and biosimilars targeting diseases such as cancer, arthritis, anemia, hypertension, and autoimmune disorders, according to a press
release issued on Sunday.
At the height of the global coronavirus pandemic, a team of Globe Biotech scientists led by Dr. Kakon Nag and Dr. Naznin Sultana initiated work on diagnostic kits, vaccines, and therapeutics.
Their mRNA-based vaccine, Bangavax, subsequently obtained trial clearance from both the Bangladesh Medical Research Council (BMRC) and the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA).
The vaccine’s complete coding sequence was first deposited in the NCBI database (USA) in 2020. Research findings were later featured in Vaccine (Elsevier, USA) and Scientific Reports (Nature, UK).
That same year, the World Health Organization (WHO) listed Bangavax in its official COVID-19 vaccine registry.
Bangavax also became the first vaccine developed in Bangladesh to undergo successful monkey trials, where it demonstrated both safety and efficacy.
The recently issued US patent encompasses 30 claims of invention, covering the vaccine’s nanotechnology-based platform. Globe Biotech claims this makes Bangavax the world’s only single-dose mRNA vaccine proven effective across multiple variants.
According to the company, this proprietary platform can be extended to create vaccines using DNA, protein, inactivated virus, and recombinant virus technologies, as well as to develop treatments for cancer, diabetes, and autoimmune diseases.
Globe Biotech believes the patent paves the way for Bangladesh to manufacture and distribute advanced vaccines locally, lessen dependence on imports, and potentially tap into global markets. It also underscores the nation’s growing scientific strength as it prepares to graduate from least-developed country (LDC) status in 2026 and adapt to the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
