Bangladesh’s ‘Bangavax’ secures patent in the US

Bangladesh’s COVID-19 vaccine, Bangavax, developed by Globe Biotech, has received a patent in the United States. This is the first vaccine from the country’s pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector to gain international patent recognition.

The announcement was made at a press conference on Sunday (September 14) at Globe Pharmaceuticals’ headquarters in the Tejgaon industrial area of Dhaka.

Globe Biotech, an affiliate of Globe Pharma Group, has been conducting research on gene-based therapies and treatments for complex diseases since 2015. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company’s scientists, led by Kakon Nag and Naznin Sultana, began work on this mRNA-based vaccine.

In 2020, Bangavax’s genetic code was published in the United States National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Later, research papers on the vaccine appeared in the UK’s influential journal Nature and the US-based Elsevier’s Vaccine Journal. The same year, the World Health Organization included Bangavax in its list of COVID-19 vaccines.

According to Glob Biotech, Bangavax is the only mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine effective in a single dose and capable of providing protection against multiple variants.

The vaccine incorporates the company’s proprietary nanotechnology, which could also be applied in the future for DNA, sub-unit, inactivated virus, or recombinant virus-based vaccines.

For this technology, 30 invention claims have been approved in the United States, confirming it as a completely new and original discovery.

Bangavax has already successfully completed trials in animals (monkeys), marking a first in Bangladesh’s history. It has also received approval from the Bangladesh Medical Research Council (BMRC) and the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) to conduct clinical trials in humans.

Kakon Nag, Chief Researcher at Globe Biotech, said, “This is not just a vaccine patent; it represents international recognition of Bangladesh’s technological capability. Now, we await the final testing to determine when the vaccine will be available for public use.”

He further stated that the technology will not only target COVID-19 but will also pave the way for modern treatments and medicines for cancer, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, blood disorders, and other complex diseases in the future.