Bharat Biotech inks deal to supply Covaxin to Brazil
Bharat Biotech on Tuesday announced it has signed an agreement with Precisa Medicamentos for the supplies of its Covid vaccine 'Covaxin' to Brazil. A team from Precisa Medicamentos visited the Bharat Biotech facility here last week to discuss potential export possibilities of Covaxin, India's first indigenous vaccine for Covid.
The team met Bharat Biotech Chairman and Managing Director Dr Krishna Ella. During the discussion, Brazil's Ambassador to India, Andre Aranha Correa do Lago joined on a virtual platform. He expressed his keen interest on behalf of the government of Brazil, towards the procurement of Covaxin.
Both the parties agreed to prioritise supplies of Covaxin for the public market, through direct procurement by the government of Brazil. Supplies to the private market would be based upon receipt of market authorisation from ANVISA, the Brazilian regulatory authority.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has affected humanity at large. As a company determined to protect global public health, it has always been important for us to develop vaccines for a global cause. Covaxin is an innovation and a perfect example of novel product development from India. Our goal for all vaccines developed at Bharat Biotech is to provide global access to populations that need it the most," said Dr Ella.
He said the vaccine has generated excellent safety data with robust immune responses to multiple viral proteins that persist. "We are happy to note that vaccines innovated in India are able to address the public health needs of Brazil."
"We identified highly technological, scientific and sanitary control levels. There were also excellent outcomes in clinical trials, which will be published soon. Bharat Biotech has exceeded our expectations, demonstrating quality and safety at the level of the largest vaccine suppliers in the world," said pharmaceutical director of Precisa Medicamentos, Emanuela Medrades, after a visit to Bharat Biotech's Genome Valley facility in Hyderabad.
Covaxin is a highly purified and inactivated 2-dose SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, manufactured in a Vero cell manufacturing platform with an excellent safety track record of more than 300 million doses.
The Phase-III human clinical trials of Covaxin began mid-November and are currently ongoing in about 26,000 volunteers across India.
