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Bharat Biotech to increase Covaxin supply to pvt sector from 10% to 25%
The price at which the vaccine is sold to the government is also likely to be revised. The company has requested the government to look at revising the price of the vaccine per dose for the government sector
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More private hospitals could offer Covaxin from July as Bharat Biotech will be supplying up to 25% of the total production volume of its Covid-19 vaccine to the private sector next month. Currently, it supplies 10% of the total production volume, said a top company representative.
The price at which the vaccine is sold to the government is also likely to be revised. The company has requested the government to look at revising the price of the vaccine per dose for the government sector. It has said the current price of ₹150 per dose seems to be non-competitive and not sustainable in the long run.
The rate at which the vaccine doses are sold to the private sector may not change.
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“Since January, we were supplying less than 10% to the private sector, and now the government has told us that we can increase it up to 25% for future deals. From next month, we will look at revising the distribution pattern, and...it is going to move towards 25%,” said a company executive, Bharat Biotech International Ltd.
The executive is a part of the product development team in Bharat Biotech.
The Covaxin price for the private sector currently is ₹1,200 per vaccine dose.
“There are future orders that the central government is discussing with us. We are looking at requesting a better price. It is not just the cost of vaccines but also the distribution cost of supplies to states that we have to take care of... that increases the overall cost... there needs to be a better price. For the private market, we don’t see any changes for now,” he said.
Covaxin is one of the two Covid-19 vaccines currently approved for use under the national Covid-19 immunisation programme.
As of now, the company is producing close to 25 million vaccine doses monthly and is looking at stepwise scaling up of production in the next four to five months.
“The current production capacity is 25 million doses per month, and this is likely to be maintained till August-September this year, after which more supplies will happen. In the next two months, we will be starting production at two of our facilities in Ankleshwar, Gujarat, and Bengaluru, Karnataka. These facilities are being re-purposed and the production is likely to start in the next two months,” the executive said.
The company is looking at an increase to 60-70 million doses per month by November-December.
“We actually see annualized production, and it is going to reach 800 million mark by the end of this year. We have initiated technology transfer with three institutions through the department of biotechnology, and these companies are also preparing their facilities for the purpose, especially setting up a bio-safety level-3 laboratory, and should start production in some time,” the executive said.
According to the company, it takes anywhere between 90 to 120 days for producing a batch.
Therefore, there is no scope for any ad hoc changes to be made in the supply chain. The company said the scope of exporting doses is currently not on the horizon. “Our doses are committed well in advance; there is no possibility of making sudden changes. The same goes for exporting as the government has clearly indicated that priority is Indian citizens. Even though the list of countries that have requested vaccine doses is piling up continuously, but exports will depend only on government approvals,” the executive added.
At least eight countries have requested Bharat Biotech for Covaxin supplies.
As for the delay in phase 3 trials, the executive said there was no delay as due processes were being followed as per the set protocol.
“Regulators want a minimum of two months data after the last trial participant is jabbed for efficacy analysis. The last participant in the trial of 25,800 participants was jabbed around mid-May. Therefore, the analysis will take its time. Hundreds of people are on job to analyse two-three lakh data sheets and some 50 lakh data points. We already have nine papers published in top-notch peer-reviewed publications. We have been totally transparent with our data,” he added.
The Covaxin trial among children has also met with a huge response. At present recruitment of participants is happening in the 6-12 years category while the company has the approval to conduct trials in children aged between two and 18.
“We are unable to handle all the requests that are coming from parents, and even doctors, who want their children to receive the shot as part of the trial,” the executive said.
