HYDERABAD: Telangana Industries Minister KT Rama Rao on Wednesday reiterated his request to the Central government for the establishment of a Vaccine Testing and Certification Laboratory in Hyderabad, on the lines of Central Drug Laboratory in Kasauli.
He made the request via a letter addressed to Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan.
The letter comes in the backdrop of India’s first indigenous vaccine against Covid-19, Covaxin, having been developed in Hyderabad by Bharat Biotech.
Rama Rao pointed out that Hyderabad was known as the ‘Vaccine Capital of the World’, as more than six billion doses were manufactured here every year, contributing to a third of the global output.
However, vaccine manufacturers are forced to send the vaccines to the Central Drug Laboratory in Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh for testing and certification. Rao said that due to these logistical reasons and the times involved in processes, the vaccine industry in Hyderabad was constrained to be more effective and competitive.
Rama Rao also mentioned in his letter that the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) was establishing the country’s largest National Animal Resource facility for Biomedical Research at the Genome Valley in Hyderabad.
He added, “I am happy to note that this facility already has a mandate of testing and certifying drugs, including vaccines and medical devices, and to certify them on behalf of the Government of India. I would like to request that the establishment of this facility be expedited.