India Bharat Biotech is looking for international partners for the COVID-19 vaccine

NEW DELHI, Aug. 29 (Reuters) – Indian vaccine maker Bharat Biotech is looking for international manufacturing partners as it targets one billion doses of its COVID-19 vaccine each year, the company said on Sunday.

COVAXIN, the company’s own-produced COVID-19 vaccine approved for emergency use in India, is one of two traits driving the country’s massive vaccination program.

But Bharat Biotech has struggled to increase production, losing supply commitments to the Indian government, which also relies on a version of the AstraZeneca vaccine (AZN.L) produced by the Serum Institute of India and the Sputnik V vaccine. of Russia.

On Sunday, the company launched the first batch of COVAXIN shots from a facility in Ankleshwar, west India, which has the capacity to produce more than 10 million doses a month.

Bharat Biotech said it was exploring opportunities with its international partners who have experience in commercial-scale manufacturing of inactivated viral vaccines.

“We want to make sure that Bharat Biotech can skillfully meet the demand for COVAXIN so that people all over the country and the world have access to the vaccine,” President and CEO Krishna Ella said in a statement.

Last month, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya told parliament that Bharat Biotech would supply 25 million doses in July and 35 million in August, less than half of what the government had initially expected.

Devjyot Ghoshal Reports; Edited by William Mallard

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