Bharat Biotech ready to collaborate with other vaccine makers to produce Covaxin

The central government and Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech are willing to invite other companies which want to produce Covaxin to help scale up its production, a top government advisor said on Thursday, as India grapples with a dire shortage of coronavirus vaccines.

“People say that Covaxin should be given to other companies for manufacturing. I am happy to say that Covaxin manufacturing company (Bharat Biotech) has welcomed this when we discussed it with them,” NITI Aayog member Dr VK Paul said.

“Under this vaccine, a live virus is inactivated and this is done only in BSL3 (Biosafety Level 3) labs. Not every company has this. We give an open invitation to companies who want to do this. Companies that want to manufacture Covaxin, should do it together. The centre will assist so that capacity is increased,” Dr Paul said.