Biological-E: Hyderabad company to give another shot in the arm

Bengaluru: The Centre on Thursday announced that it has inked a deal with Hyderabad-based Biological E for 30 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, which is in clinical trials, and will make an advance payment of ₹1,500 crore to procure the same

Bengaluru: The Centre on Thursday announced that it has inked a deal with Hyderabad-based Biological E for 30 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, which is in clinical trials, and will make an advance payment of ₹1,500 crore to procure the same.

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A statement from the health ministry said that these vaccine doses will be manufactured and stockpiled by Biological-E from August to December this year.

The statement also said that the Covid-19 vaccine of Biological-E is currently undergoing phase-3 clinical trials after showing promising results in phase 1 and 2 trials. The vaccine being developed by Biological-E is a RBD protein sub-unit vaccine and is likely to be available in the next few months, it added.

The Centre’s announcement comes at a time when India continues to remain in the grip of the second wave of Covid-19. With the present production not being able to meet the rising vaccine demand, the Union government has approached other companies like Biological E to scale up manufacturing and help ease the supply constraints.

“The proposal of Biological-E was examined and recommended for approval after due diligence by the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC),” the health ministry statement said.

Biological E could not be reached for a comment on the latest development on Thursday.

In a statement on June 1, it said that it has partnered with Canada-based Providence Therapeutics Holdings Inc which will provide necessary technology transfer to manufacture mRNA vaccines in India, with a minimum production capacity of 600 million doses in 2022 and a target capacity of 1 billion doses.

A December 2020 article by Forbes on Biological E titled ‘The Dark Horse in India’s Vaccine Race’ had described how the company has emerged as one of the biggest facilities to produce the life-saving vaccine.

The company is already working with four Covid-19 vaccine candidates, including Johnson & Johnson, according to the report.

Founded by Dr D V K Raju in 1953, Biological E commenced operations as a biological products company, manufacturing liver extracts and anticoagulants.

The company gradually began producing Heparin, a drug to prevent blood clots, and barely a decade later in 1963, the company became the first private sector player in India to enter the vaccine business.

Biological E has made quick and significant strides since then, producing anti-tetanus serum and developing vaccines for Japanese Encephalitis among others. In 2019, the company commenced its commercial operations in the USA.

The firm envisions to become the “largest Indian vaccines company and be among the top few Indian companies in complex generics and specialty pharmaceuticals” by 2025, according to the organisation.

The company at present is led by its managing director and chief executive officer, Mahima Datla.

At present, only Pune-based Serum Institute of India and Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech are producing the Covishield and Covaxin vaccines, respectively, in India.

As the second most populous country in the world, India would require inoculating 1.3 billion people in its fight against Covid-19.

(With agency inputs)