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Hyderabad-based vaccine maker Biological E, which plans to make 100 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine Corbevax a month, has priced the vaccine at Rs 800 (excluding GST) a dose for the private market. It is being sold to the government at Rs 145 per dose, making it the cheapest vaccine in India and also globally, the company claimed.
Biological E has plans to test the vaccine on children as young as six months of age eventually, and is now testing it as a booster shot after Covishield and Covaxin.
Speaking to the media, Mahima Datla, managing director, Biological E (BE) said that the vaccine would be available for both children and adults in the private vaccination centers in a matter of days. BE is, however, not expecting much demand in the private market. She added that by pricing it at Rs 145 per dose to the government, BE is saving Rs 1500 crore to the state exchequer. “It is the lowest (price) in the country and in the world,” Datla said.
Jeevan Mudgala, senior vice president, domestic business, BE said that “The government vaccination programme is so easily accessible and available to everybody, and specifically for vaccines like these where they have taken the lead, our experience is that the private market will be limited. It will definitely be below 10 percent (of the total demand) is my guess.”
BE’s vaccine would cost Rs 990 per dose including taxes and one would have to pay the administration charge (Rs 150) at a private vaccine center.
In the last few months demand for Covid19 vaccines in the private sector has largely dried out with abundant vaccines available for free at the government centres.
BE is supplying 300 million doses to the government, of which they have already supplied 50 million doses, and will supply the remaining 250 million doses soon. BE has already manufactured the 300 million doses committed for supplying to the Centre.
The company has also applied for a WHO prequalification and expects a visit from the WHO team soon. It is eyeing Australia and African markets, and Datla said that they are receiving several queries for bilateral supplies to countries.
Moreover, BE has already started a clinical trial to test Corbevax as a booster dose (third shot) after two doses of Covishield and Covaxin.
They plan to do trials as a booster dose of Corbevax too later.
Narender Dev Mantena, head, global strategy and CEO of specialty generic injectables and synthetic biology, BE pointed out that they plan to test this vaccine on children as young as six months of age eventually, whenever the safety data is available. Already, BE has applied to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) seeking an emergency use authorization (EUA) for Corbevax for use in children aged between 5-12 years. The company has generated interim data for this cohort and expects to meet the subject expert committee soon for a review.
BE said that it has been conducting studies on sera samples of individuals vaccinated with Corbevax and have found that the vaccine generates neutralizing antibodies against Delta, Beta and Omicron variants. “This is an ongoing process and we will continue to test against other upcoming variants,” Mantena said.
As for publication of the clinical trial data on immunogenicity, it would happen in a few weeks, the company said. It added that the data was available on their website, but yet to be published in any scientific journal.
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