National Institute of Immunology

What National Institute of Immunology does

The National Institute of Immunology (NII) is an autonomous research institute established in 1986 under the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, headquartered at Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi. NII is dedicated to advanced research on the basic mechanisms of the body's defence system, with the goal of identifying modalities for manipulating the immune system to provide protection against diseases. Its research is organized across three broad programmatic areas: Immunity and Infection; Genetics, Cell Signalling and Cancer Biology; and Chemical Biology, Biochemistry and Structural Biology. NII's research outputs have included contributions to the development of Covaxin, India's COVID-19 vaccine, and the identification of COVID-19 inhibitors through structural biology approaches published in peer-reviewed journals including Nature Microbiology and PLOS Computational Biology.

NII operates primarily as a public-funded research and training institution rather than a commercial entity. Its core offerings include doctoral programmes (admitting 25-30 researchers bi-annually in collaboration with BRIC-Regional Centre for Biotechnology, Faridabad), post-doctoral research opportunities, and short-term training internships. The institute provides centralized access to advanced scientific infrastructure through its SAHAJ platform — including transmission electron microscopy, 700 MHz NMR spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, Orbitrap Exploris 240 mass spectrometry, confocal microscopy, flow cytometry, micro-CT, small animal imaging, and NanoString nCounter systems. NII also maintains a proprietary platform called Immunoscope (immunoscope.nii.res.in) and an IP and technology transfer program that includes the trademarked ASPAGNIITM recombinant protein technology for cancer immunotherapy applications.

NII does not operate under a commercial revenue model. Funding flows from the Department of Biotechnology and external research grants, with the institute governed by its own Society and Governing Body. Outreach activities include the Science Setu programme linking NII scientists to colleges, and the institute maintains a presence across Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Organizational stakeholders include PhD students, post-doctoral fellows, short-term trainees, scientific and technical staff, and government oversight bodies, with no commercial customer base in the traditional sense.

Name

National Institute of Immunology

Legal name

National Institute of Immunology

Website

https://nii.res.in

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

The National Institute of Immunology (NII) is an autonomous Indian government research institute under the Department of Biotechnology, conducting advanced immunology research, training doctoral and postdoctoral researchers, and licensing biotechnologies such as ASPAGNIITM cancer immunotherapy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New Delhi

HQ country

India

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The National Institute of Immunology (NII) is a government-funded autonomous research institute that conducts advanced research on immune system mechanisms, infectious and chronic diseases, cancer biology, and structural biology. It offers doctoral (PhD), post-doctoral, and short-term training programmes, operates shared advanced research instrumentation (SAHAJ Infrastructure), runs the Immunoscope research platform, and licenses proprietary biotechnologies such as ASPAGNIITM for cancer immunotherapy.

Product overview

The National Institute of Immunology (NII) is an autonomous research institute under the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. NII operates as a research institution rather than a commercial product company. Its primary offerings include: (1) Immunoscope - a specialized immunological research platform, (2) SAHAJ Infrastructure Services - access to advanced scientific equipment including electron microscopy, NMR, X-ray crystallography, flow cytometry, mass spectrometry, and NanoString technology, (3) Academic programmes - doctoral and post-doctoral research training in collaboration with Regional Centre for Biotechnology, and short-term training internships, (4) Licensed technologies including ASPAGNIITM (SPAG9 recombinant protein) for cancer immunotherapy applications, and (5) Technology transfer services for granted patents and industry partnerships. NII focuses on advanced research in immunology, infectious and chronic disease biology, molecular and cellular biology, chemical biology, structural biology, and computational biology.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Immunoscope
• SAHAJ Infrastructure Services
• Doctoral (PhD) Programme
• Post-Doctoral Programme
• Short-Term Training Programme
• ASPAGNIITM (SPAG9 Recombinant Protein)
• Technology Transfer and IP Licensing Services

Quantifiable outcome

• Contributed to development of Covaxin - India's COVID-19 vaccine
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• BRIC - Regional Centre for Biotechnology (RCB), FaridabadcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBRIC-National Institute of Immunology awards PhD degrees through the Regional Centre for Biotechnology, Faridabad, Haryana. NII provides long-term research training for the doctoral programme in biological and related sciences.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR): ICMR is the apex body for medical research in India under the Ministry of Health, funding and coordinating a broad biomedical research portfolio. It is comparable to NII as an apex Indian government medical research entity but operates at a much broader scale as a funder and coordinator rather than a single research lab.
• Institut Pasteur: Institut Pasteur is a globally recognized French foundation dedicated to immunology, infectious disease, and vaccine research. It is broadly comparable to NII as an internationally reputed immunology and vaccinology research institute with doctoral training and significant IP portfolios.
• Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR): CSIR is India's largest publicly funded R&D organization encompassing 38 constituent laboratories across physical and biological sciences. It is broadly comparable to NII as the parent ecosystem for several Indian government life sciences research institutes.

Direct peers

• Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB): IICB is a Kolkata-based CSIR research institute working on chemical biology, biochemistry, and immunology-adjacent areas. It is structurally comparable to NII as a CSIR-affiliated Indian government research institute with similar infrastructure and doctoral training mandate.
• International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB): ICGEB operates an India component in New Delhi focused on genetic engineering, immunology, and infectious disease research. It is comparable to NII as a UN-system research centre with doctoral programmes and translational immunology research in India.
• National Institute of Biomedical Genomics: NIBMG is an autonomous Indian government institute under DBT focused on biomedical genomics and disease biology research. It is closely comparable to NII as a DBT-affiliated autonomous institute with doctoral programmes in biomedical research.
• Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER): IISER is a network of Indian government research universities focused on basic sciences including biological sciences and integrated PhD programmes. It is comparable to NII as a publicly funded Indian research institution with graduate training and immunology-related research.
• Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB): CCMB is a Hyderabad-based government research institute under CSIR focused on cell and molecular biology research with doctoral training. It shares NII's structure as an Indian public-sector life sciences research institute with comparable infrastructure and academic programmes.
• National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS): NCBS is a Bangalore-based research institute under the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research focused on fundamental biology, including immunology and infectious disease. It is comparable to NII as an India-based life sciences research institution with doctoral programmes and core research infrastructure.
• Indian Institute of Science (IISc): IISc is India's premier public research university in Bangalore with deep programmes in biological sciences, immunology, and biomedical engineering. It is directly comparable to NII as a government-funded research and doctoral training institution in biological sciences.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/NImmunology
• Facebookfacebook.com/NIIOfficial
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nii---national-institute-of-immunology

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about National Institute of Immunology