A Thai start-up is working on a Covid vaccine — using tobacco leaves


Source: asianewsday.com asianewsday.com

Key Topics in this News Article:

News Snapshot:

Thailand’s Baiya Phytopharm wants to develop the country’s first plant-based Covid vaccine. The start-up, founded by Dr. Suthira Taychakhoonavudh and Dr. Waranyoo Phoolcharoen in 2018, has been working on a vaccine using the leaves of an Australian tobacco plant. Suthira, a 37-year-old lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, told CNBC’s “Managing Asia” that she and her team of scientists want to “make a difference” in changing Thailand from a vaccine importer to a vaccine maker. Baiya is the first Thai company to enter the university’s CU Innovation Hub , a research center for start-ups, to develop technology to manufacture recombinant proteins that...