Biological E's Corbevax to be available in India by November end

New Delhi: Currently in the third phase of clinical trials, Covid-19 vaccine Corbevax from the Hyderabad-based vaccine maker, Biological E is expected to be available for inoculation by November-end. The company is looking to supply nearly 10 crore doses on the day of its launch.

The company’s Managing Director, Mahima Datla on Monday said Corbevax is currently in Phase-3 trials.

“We are likely to complete all these trials by the end of November which is when we expect the license. The license for children should follow one month later but children studies are underway as well,” she added.

She said the Phase-3 trials for the Corbevax vaccine for adults are a comparative study in comparison with an already licensed vaccine.

She clarified that the study was not for Corbevax as a booster. “The study is for primary immunization. It’s a head-to-head study. We have a controlled group with a comparative and our group with our vaccine,” she added.

Mahima was talking to the media after signing a



USD50 million financing agreement with the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) Chief Operating Officer, David Marchick. DFC is providing the finance to the company to support the capacity for production of more than one billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of 2022 for India and developing countries around the world.

She said the company has already begun manufacturing Corbevax and submitting doses to Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL), Kasauli, for release. “It’s our vision that on the day of the launch we supply close to 10 crore doses,” she added.

Corbevax is manufactured by Biological E jointly with Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, and Dynavax, California. The Union Health Ministry had announced in June that Biological E will supply 30 crore doses of Corbevax to the Central government by December. Replying to a query, Mahima said Biological E currently has a capacity to manufacture nearly a billion doses of Corbevax and about 600 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine.