Sepsivac is a drug developed by

Cadila Pharmaceuticals Cadila Pharmaceuticals is an Indian multinational pharmaceutical company based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The company's operations focus on manufacturing products ranging from API's-Intermediates, finished formulations, OTC-Food Suppleme ...

to treat

gram-negative Gram-negative bacteria are bacteria that do not retain the crystal violet stain used in the Gram staining method of bacterial differentiation. They are characterized by their cell envelopes, which are composed of a thin peptidoglycan cell wa ...

sepsis Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is foll ...

. The active ingredient is heat-killed Mycobacterium w, a non-pathogenic strain of ''

Mycobacterium ''Mycobacterium'' is a genus of over 190 species in the phylum Actinomycetota, assigned its own family, Mycobacteriaceae. This genus includes pathogens known to cause serious diseases in mammals, including tuberculosis (''M. tuberculosis'') and l ...

''. As an

immunomodulatory Immunotherapy or biological therapy is the treatment of disease by activating or suppressing the immune system. Immunotherapies designed to elicit or amplify an immune response are classified as ''activation immunotherapies,'' while immunotherap ...

, it modulates the immune system of the body and hence significantly reduces mortality rate in patients with gram negative sepsis. Sepsivac is a drug developed by CSIR and Cadila Pharmaceuticals under New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI) programme. In many cases, Sepsivac has proven to provide effective care and relief to COVID patients. Sepsivac is approved by the

Drug Controller General of India Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) is the head of department of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization of the Government of India responsible for approval of licences of specified categories of drugs such as blood and blood pr ...

(DCGI) for treatment of

or septic shock. __TOC__

Mechanism

In patients with sepsis, in response to an

infection An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable d ...

, a lot of

pro-inflammatory Inflammation (from la, inflammatio) is part of the complex biological response of body tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants, and is a protective response involving immune cells, blood vessels, and molecu ...

and

anti-inflammatory Anti-inflammatory is the property of a substance or treatment that reduces inflammation or swelling. Anti-inflammatory drugs, also called anti-inflammatories, make up about half of analgesics. These drugs remedy pain by reducing inflammation as ...

cytokines are generated in the body. However, some of the cytokines also cause inflammation in the organs of the body, which might be harmful.

Immunomodulator Immunotherapy or biological therapy is the treatment of disease by activating or suppressing the immune system. Immunotherapies designed to elicit or amplify an immune response are classified as ''activation immunotherapies,'' while immunotherap ...

drugs such as Sepsivac regulate this host immune response. Sepsivac is found to be safe in patients with no systematic side-effects. It can be used in combination with other treatments to manage a patient in critical care setting.

Sepsivac and COVID

Scientists at CSIR found similarities between the clinical characteristics of patients with gram-negative sepsis and

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

. In association with Cadila Pharmaceuticals, the researchers are now working on initiating a randomised, blinded, controlled

clinical trial Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human subject research, human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel v ...

to evaluate Sepsivac's efficacy to reduce mortality in critically ill COVID-19 patients. The repurposed drug will boost the immunity of the body and limit the spread of COVID-19 and increase the recovery rate. The clinical trials will be conducted at national hospitals including

PGIMER Chandigarh Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) is a public medical university in Chandigarh, India. It is an 'Institute of National Importance'. It has educational, medical research, and training facilities for its studen ...

AIIMS New Delhi All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, also known as AIIMS Delhi, is a public medical research university and hospital in New Delhi, India. The institute is governed by the AIIMS Act, 1956 and operates autonomously under the Mini ...

, and

AIIMS The All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is a group of autonomous government public medical universities of higher education under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare , Government of India. These institutes h ...

, Bhopal.

References

Sepsis COVID-19 drug development Drugs {{COVID-19-stub