Bharat Biotech to create 10mn Covid vax bank

Hyderabad: City-based Bharat Biotech, the maker of indigenous Covid vaccine, Covaxin and intranasal iNcovacc,is in the process of manufacturing 10 million doses of these vaccines to create a vaccine bank. Moreover, the drug maker informed of working on a rabies vaccine for the treatment of rabies infected animals.

Speaking to The Hans Indiaon the sideline of life-sciences healthcare event, BioAsia 2023 in Hyderabad on Friday, D Sai Prasad, Executive Director of Bharat Biotech International Limited said that in the next five months the company will reach its target of manufacturing 10 million doses of its Covid vaccines. "At present, a few million of the Covid vaccine dose arealready made and by next four–five months, we will be reaching our target. Our goal is to have 10 million doses of Covid vaccine in our bank but how much of that will get utilised is not known but that is the risk we take as vaccine manufacturers."

Bharat Biotech currently manufactures rabies vaccines to be administered to humans. IndiRabis made at their Hyderabad facility and Chirorab at Gujarat unit. Now they are working on developingvaccine to be administered onrabies infected stray dogs and animals.This drug will be made by the pharma company's associate firm Biovet, a veterinary vaccine manufacturing company.

"We have been making these vaccines to treat humans who are bit or infected with rabies transferred from such animals. But, our observation says that the dog bites and its related cases have not reduced in the country. Every batch of rabies vaccine takes eight month to be manufactured. Besides, how many people can be administered with rabies vaccine.

In the case ofCovid we were able to produce over 60 million doses of vaccine but to make 10 million doseof rabies vaccineis very complicated. So, the idea here is to come up with a vaccine for treating rabies infected animals," the Executive Director said.