Centre Looking Into Securing Part Of J&J Vaccine Shots For India: Report

Hyderabad-based Biological E has proposed to manufacture about 30 crore doses of its indigenous vaccine exclusively for the Indian market by December.

Johnson and Johnson's (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine, to be manufactured in India by Biological E, cannot be directly channelled to the domestic market and will have to be handed over entirely to the US pharma giant as agreed by the firms but the government is looking at the possibility of securing a part of this production, sources said. Hyderabad-based Biological E has, however, proposed to manufacture about 30 crore doses of its indigenous vaccine exclusively for the Indian market by December and has sought "funding support" from the government. Its vaccine candidate is currently in phase 1/2 clinical trial phase. According to the sources, there are limited prospects of J&J exporting its vaccine from the US to other countries in the near future and the "entire production" at the BE facilities in India, beginning July/August, will be handed over to the pharma giant under a contract between the companies. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), along with the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), has been asked to work on securing a part of the J&J vaccine to be manufactured by BE for the Indian market, the sources said.