IIL to make 10 million doses of Covaxin drug substance from December

IIL is also developing a live attenuated COVID-19 vaccine which has many advantages and will be rolled out next year

Indian Immunologicals Limited which has supplied two million doses of drug substance to Bharat Biotech to make COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin, is set to make ten million doses of the drug substance from December, a press release from IIL said on Friday.

Lauding the efforts of the PSU for its ability to roll out the vaccine drug substance in record time, Union Minister Parshottam Rupala formally handed over the drug substance to Bharat Biotech, makers of Covaxin, it said.

"To date, IIL has already supplied 2 million doses of the drug substance. It is learned that the drug substance produced by IIL has already been formulated into vaccines by BBIL ( Bharat Biotech) and is ready for use. IIL will produce three million doses a month and from December will increase it to 10 million doses," the release said.

K Anand Kumar, Managing Director, IIL said, the production and delivery of Covid-19 drug substance in record time is a testament to IIL's technical expertise, adaptability, state-of-art manufacturing capability, resilience, and above all a commitment to the larger cause in the interest of the nation.

IIL is also developing on a live attenuated COVID-19 vaccine which has many advantages and will be rolled out next year, Kumar said.

The animal studies have been completed and the results are very encouraging. Human trials are also expected to start soon, he added.

Krishna Ella, CMD, Bharat Biotech said it was essential that both competing organisations come together and support each other to a larger cause of national health. "If the Indian companies don't join hands, then the multinationals will take over the industry," Ella said.

Set up by National Dairy Development Board , Indian Immunologicals Limited is one of the largest producers of vaccines in Asia.