New Delhi, Oct. 31 -- Amid recurrent outbreaks, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has sought to collaborate with Indian pharmaceutical companies to develop and manufacture monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against the Nipah virus, which has an extremely high fatality rate, according to scientists and documents reviewed by Mint.

Monoclonal antibodies are proteins produced in laboratories that are engineered to function similarly to natural antibodies.

The ICMR's plan is to establish an indigenous production platform, requiring companies to commit to producing a minimum of 1 lakh doses per week. This comes in the backdrop of ICMR holding successful animal trials with the country's first indigenously developed monoclonal antibodies ...