HYDERABAD: As the world’s attention is riveted on Indian vaccine manufacturers’ expertise and capabilities to face the Covid-19 challenge and come up trumps, the Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) led a 60-member delegation of Ambassadors and High Commissioners from several nations to Hyderabad on Wednesday. This is the first such visit of the Heads of Missions to witness and assess the research and manufacturing facilities of leading biotechnology companies Bharat Biotech and Biological E Limited in Hyderabad’s Genome Valley.
The high-level contingent comprising diplomatic leaders from Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, South America and Oceania were taken around the facilities in two batches. After an initial briefing on the processes adopted for the production of the vaccine via presentations, they visited the lab facilities. In November, the Foreign Ministry had briefed over 190 heads of diplomatic missions on Covid-related issues. Tweeting about this unique effort, Anurag Srivastava, official spokesperson, MEA, India said, “The participants were briefed on India’s indigenous efforts to develop Covid-19 vaccines, including ongoing clinical trials.”
Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin is an inactivated vaccine, with two doses, currently in the third phase of the trial where nearly 26,000 volunteers are partaking to study its efficacy. Biological E Limited’s vaccine, which has Receptor Binding Domain of the Spike Protein of SARS-CoV-2 initiated its phase I/II trials last month. “The development and clinical evaluation of COVAXINT marks a significant milestone for novel vaccinology in India.
COVAXINT has garnered interest from several countries worldwide for supplies and introduction. It not only makes us proud but also reminds us that the world is looking up to India in the common fight against the pandemic,” Suchitra Ella, joint managing director of Bharat Biotech, said. The delegation was welcomed by Telangana Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar and IT & Industries Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan, who explained the State’s TS-IPASS policy for s p e e d y a p p r o v a l s t o industries. The visit is being seen as a crucial one to display India’s best efforts to combat the Covid- 19 virus. Hyderabad’s pharmaceutical sector is valued at around $50 billion, making it the vaccine hub of the country and the world by contributing about 33 per cent of all manufacturing.