The company has received a grant of Rs 65 crore by the Center and Rs 94 crore by the Maharashtra government for the production of Covaxin.
The government has taken another step to increase the domestic production of coronavirus vaccines. Under a technology transfer arrangement with Hyderabad-based company Covaxin producer Bharat Biotech, Haffkine Biopharma will produce 22.8 crore doses of Covaxin.
In order to vaccinate the entire eligible population at the earliest, with the help of the Center, the production of domestic vaccines in the country is being intensified. The Department of Biotechnology is helping three public enterprises under the Atmanirbhar Bharat 3.0 Mission Kovid Suraksha initiative. These companies are Haffkine Biopharmaceutical Corporation Limited, Mumbai, Indian Immunological Limited, Hyderabad and Bharat Immunological & Biological Limited, Bulandshahr, UP.
Haffkine Biopharma, a branch of the 122-year-old Haffkine Institute, is a Maharashtra state public institution preparing to manufacture Covaxin under a technology transfer arrangement with Bharat Biotech Limited. The vaccine will be produced at the company's complex in Parel. Dr Sandeep Rathod, Managing Director, Haffkine Biopharma said that the company proposes to produce 2.28 crore doses of Covaxin in a year. He added that "Haffkine Biopharma has received a grant of Rs 65 crore by the Center and Rs 94 crore by the Maharashtra government for the production of Covaxin."
The company has also said that eight months have been given for the production of the vaccine dose, so the work is being carried out on a war footing. Rathod, a doctor-turned-IAS, said that the vaccine production process involves two phases - the drug formulation and the final drug production. He informed that the company needs to build a Bio Safety Level 3 (BSL 3) facility to make pharmaceutical ingredients, whereas Haffkine already has a fill-finish facility.
What is BSL 3
BSL 3 is a safety standard that applies to facilities where work involves germs that can cause serious illness. Dr Renu Swarup, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology and Chairperson, Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council, says that "increasing the capacity of vaccine production by utilizing public sector assets is the key to increasing the production capacity of vaccines for large scale vaccination campaign in our country. It will go a long way."
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