Bharat Biotech is looking at manufacturers abroad to ramp up Covaxin production. To help increase production capacity of Covaxin, sites are being considered within and outside India, according to government sources.
According to sources, the Hyderabad-based company is in discussions with a few drug makers overseas. As an established vaccine supplier, Bharat Bio has partners in several countries and is attempting to harness them.
“Manufacturing partnerships are being explored with partners in other countries, who have expertise with commercial scale manufacture of inactivated viral vaccines under biosafety containment,” an official in the know said. Talk of the company looking for manufacturers outside India has been doing the rounds for some time now. In February, Bharat Bio had said it has entered into a definitive agreement with American firm Ocugen to co-develop, supply and commercialise Covaxin for the US market.
Manufacturing partnerships abroad will help the vaccine-maker which is under pressure to achieve a production capacity of over one billion doses per annum.
As part of the domestic capacity augmentation plan, the government has extended a support of ₹65 crore to Bharat Bio to re-purpose its Bengaluru facility. Pacts have been signed with three PSUs. Three Ahmedabad-based firms will also make Covaxin.
With inputs from New Delhi Bureau