Hyderabad-based firm Biological-E will allocate 30 crore of COVID-19 vaccine doses for the Indian government after it planned to book with an advance payment of Rs. 1500 crore to the vaccine manufacturer. These vaccine doses will be manufactured and amassed by Biological-E from August-December 2021. It will emerge as the second made-in-India vaccine to be launched in the country after Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.
As per the statement by health ministry, Biological-E’s proposal for vaccine development in advance was thoroughly examined and recommended for approval by National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC). The decision comes after observing a drastic shortage in covid vaccines in the nation.
Biological-E’s covid vaccine is currently proceeding to Phase-3 clinical trial after showing effective results in Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials. The vaccine being developed by Biological-E is a RBD protein sub-unit vaccine and could be available in the next few months.
The government stated, Biological-E was given ₹ 100 crore as a financial aid by the Department of Biotechnology, which also tied up with the company to conduct various studies.