Bharat Biotech’s Krishna Ella faces his biggest challenge
2 min read . Updated: 07 Jul 2020, 06:30 AM ISTIndustry watchers say Ella and Bharat Biotech’s reputation will undergo a severe stress test owing to Covaxin
NEW DELHI : Dr Krishna Ella, founder chairman of Bharat Biotech Ltd, faces the biggest test of his career this week, as Covaxin, the company’s vaccine candidate, enters human trials.
Though the timeline suggested by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for launching the vaccine is considered unprecedented in the field of vaccines, the company’s track record in indigenously developing vaccines has given hope to the medical fraternity on its ability to make a breakthrough despite the short time-frame.
In 2015, Bharat Biotech made headlines after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the first India-made Rotavirus vaccine developed by the Hyderabad-based company. The vaccine, branded Rotavac, priced at about $1 a dose, is among the cheapest available globally and has been inducted into the World Health Organization’s (WHO) immunization programme since.
“I think Indians are very good under pressure," Ella had joked at the launch of a variant of Rotavac 5D last December. The remark resonates remarkably, as Bharat Biotech and Ella race against time to develop India’s first vaccine against covid-19. Ella carries a stellar reputation in the vaccine industry, with his firm having developed the world’s first typhoid conjugate vaccine, as well as the world’s cheapest rotavirus vaccine, both pre-approved by WHO.
Bharat Biotech started operations in 1996 after Ella returned from the US to set up a company dedicated to creating innovative vaccines and bio-therapeutics. Over the years, it has successfully developed vaccines for Japanese encephalitis and hepatitis B.
It holds over 160 patents, and is working on chikungunya and zika vaccines.
However, industry watchers said Ella’s reputation will undergo a severe stress test as he comes under the limelight due to Covaxin, which has been developed jointly by Bharat Biotech and Indian Council of Medical Research’s National Institute of Virology. The vaccine was the first to get approval from the Drug Controller General of India for human trials, but the screws were tightened last week when ICMR director general and health research secretary Balram Bhargava wrote a letter setting a 15 August deadline for the launch. This was far shorter than the company’s filing in the clinical trials registry, where it estimated the phase 1 and 2 studies of 1,125 patients in total to be completed in 15 months. Around 375 volunteers will be needed in the phase 1 study across 12 sites, and 750 in phase 2.
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_1594052644844_1594052732451.jpg "Covaxin is an indigenous, inactivated vaccine that is being developed in collaboration with ICMR’s National Institute of Virology, Pune. Photo: Twitter@BharatBiotech")
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