Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations

• 18 Jul 2024

Why in News?

Recently, Asia’s first pre-clinical network facility for health research was established at the Regional Centre of Biotechnology.

• It is under the Translational Health Science & Technology Institute (THSTI) in Faridabad, as part of the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

Key Points

• CEPI has selected BRIC-THSTI as a pre-clinical network laboratory based on its capability to handle BSL3 pathogens.
• It is the 9^th network laboratory and will be the first in Asia, joining others in the USA, Europe, and Australia.
• The Animal Facility is one of the largest in the country, housing about 75,000 mice as well as immune compromised mice, rats, rabbits, hamsters, and guinea pigs.
• The "Genetically Defined Human Associated Microbial Culture Collection (Ge-HuMic) Facility" was also inaugurated to act as a "repository" for providing microbial cultures to research institutes, universities, and industries for research and development.
  • The facility will function as a Nodal Resource Center to facilitate collaborations between academic institutions, hospitals, and industry at national and international levels.
  • It will also store genetically characterized specific pathogen-free animals, including cryopreserved embryos and sperm, for researchers in the country.

Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness for Innovation (CEPI)

• CEPI is a global partnership launched in 2017 to develop vaccines to stop future epidemics.
• CEPI was founded in Davos (Switzerland) by the governments of Norway and India, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and the World Economic Forum.
• The Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, and Government of India has been implementing the IndCEPI mission ‘India Centric Epidemic Preparedness through Rapid Vaccine Development: Supporting Indian Vaccine Development’.
  • The objectives of this mission are aligned with that of CEPI and aims to strengthen the development of vaccines and associated competencies/technologies for the diseases of epidemic potential in India.

Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI)

• It is an autonomous institute of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
• It is located in Faridabad (Haryana).

Biosafety Levels (BSL)

• BSL is used to identify the protective measures needed in a laboratory setting to protect workers, the environment, and the public.
• Activities and projects conducted in biological laboratories are categorized by biosafety level.
• The four biosafety levels are BSL-1, BSL-2, BSL-3, and BSL-4, with BSL-4 being the highest (maximum) level of containment.