Third Vaccine Testing Lab to come up in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: A third Vaccine Testing Centre (VTC) in the country is expected to start in a month at the Hyderabad-based National Institute of Animal Biotechnology (NIAB).

According to Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sanctioned funds from the PM CARES for establishing the vaccine testing laboratory. He said that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought with it a lot of challenges. The Union government has taken several effective and timely steps to address these challenges. One such step was the ambitious mission to develop India's own vaccination for Covid-19.

The scientists and the researchers displayed exemplary commitment in developing India's own cost-effective vaccine in a short time which has helped in saving many precious lives, he said. He said this increased focus on vaccine production and necessitated the requirement of more vaccine testing centres.

Currently, there are two VTLs in the country, the Central Drug Laboratory (CDL) situated at Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh, and the National Institute of Biologicals (NIB) located in Noida.

Now funds have been released for establishing two more VTLs, one at the National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune and the other one at the NIAB, Hyderabad, he said.

The commencement of operations of the VTL at Hyderabad is expected in a month. "Hyderabad is home to many big pharma companies, Covid-19 vaccine production companies and the concerned R&D institution. Setting up the VTL at Hyderabad is a big step forward towards the comprehensive development of this sector which will also boost the production of Covid-19 vaccines," he added.

The NIAB is engaged in the cutting-edge areas of biotechnology for improving health and productivity.

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