A three-member, high-power delegation from Ukraine, led by the country’s Health Minister Maksym Stepanov visited Bharat Biotech’s manufacturing facility here recently and held discussion with the company’s leadership to secure supplies of COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin. It also evinced interest in the intranasal vaccine being developed by the company.
“We will soon firm up the Covaxin delivery plan for the mass vaccination of our people, and further strengthen our partnership on intranasal vaccine supplies after initial results from its phase 1 trials,” the Minister said in a statement issued by Bharat Biotech.
Stating that Ukraine looked forward to benefiting from India’s vast capability in the manufacture of vaccines to effectively combat the COVID-19 pandemic at home, he said the delegation had a “very good interaction with the team at Bharat Biotech. It was a great experience to take a tour of the facility and inspect the impressive manufacturing capabilities”. Ukraine and India have a long history of cooperation in various matters, he said.
Deputy Minister of Health Igor Ivashchenko and head of Trade and Economic department in the Embassy of Ukraine Ivan Konovalov accompanied the Minister during the tour of the Bio-Safety Level 3 manufacturing facility, the release said.
Bharat Biotech CMD Krishna Ella said it was an “absolute privilege to host the Minister of Health from Ukraine at our state-of-the-art facility and showcase our world-class capabilities in the manufacture and supply of vaccines and research and product development. We discussed potential timelines for the supply of Covaxin to Ukraine on a priority and the prospects of a partnership for our BBV 154 intranasal vaccine”.
He said there is a lot of interest in Covaxin worldwide. As one of India’s top vaccine makers, the company is at the forefront of “humanity’s battle against COVID-19 and stands fully committed to meeting the vaccine requirements of various countries promptly and efficiently”.
