Bharat Biotech International Limited and GCVC have entered into a contract manufacturing of the drug substance for Covaxin.
The GCVC comprises Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre (GBRC), a Government of Gujarat undertaking, Hester Biosciences Limited and Omnibrx Biotechnologies Private Limited.
As per the MoU, Bharat Biotech shall provide the technology for the production of drug substance for Covaxin. GBRC will act as an advisor and mentor and will facilitate the technology transfer from Bharat Biotech. Hester shall provide the complete infrastructure at its Gujarat plant for the manufacturing of the Drug Substance and Omnibrx shall act as a technology support partner.
This entire process is facilitated by Department of Biotechnology.
If everything goes as per the schedule, the drug substance would be available from August 2021 which will be supplied back to Bharat Biotech for producing Covaxin.
Hester has estimated an outlay of ₹40 crore for this project. This proposed manufacturing activity at Hester would not disturb any manufacturing or marketing forecasts of Hester’s on-going business, for the financial year 2021-22, according to Rajiv Gandhi, CEO & Managing Director, Hester Biosciences Limited.