Maharashtra govt grants INR 94 crore for production of Covaxin at Haffkine Bio-Pharma

In a massive development, Maharashtra's Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Corporation Limited (HBPCL) on Wednesday, June 2, said that aims to produce 22.8 crore doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in a year. The production will take place in the Parel complex of the company in Mumbai.

This comes after the Centre on April 15 had granted permission to Mumbai-based Haffkine Bio Pharma to manufacture Bharat Biotech's Covaxin within a year. 

For the production, Haffkine Biopharma has been allotted a total grant of INR 159 crores. Of which, INR 65 crores grant will be given by the Centre and INR 94 crores from the Maharashtra government.

Moreover, it is expected to start production in 8 months, reports suggested.

While talking to the media, Dr Sandeep Rathod, Managing Director of Haffkine BioPharma, said his company has been given eight months and that the work is being executed on a war footing.

Haffkine Biopharma is a manufacturing Covaxin vaccine under technology transfer arrangement with Bharat Biotech Ltd, Hyderabad.

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Explaining the stages and procedure of the production, Rathod said that the process involves two stages -- first is the production of drug substance and then there is a final drug product.

For the production of drug substance, there is a need to build a Bio Safety Level 3 (BSL 3) facility, while Haffkine already has the Fill Finish facility.

BSL 3 is a safety standard applicable to such facilities where work involves microbes that can cause serious disease via inhalation route, added Rathod, who is a doctor-turned-IAS officer.

For those unaware, Haffkine Bio Pharmaceutical Corporation Limited is a branch of the 122-year-old Haffkine Institute, which is one of the oldest biomedical research institutes in the country.

The institute has been named after the Russian bacteriologist Dr Waldemar Haffkine, who invented the plague vaccine.

Also Read: CM Thackeray Says Haffkine Institute Should Conduct Research on COVID-19 Vaccine