Panacea Biotec announced its collaboration with US-based Refana Inc for development, manufacturing and global distribution of a covid-19 vaccine.
Panacea Biotec will be responsible for product development and commercial manufacturing of an inactivated virus-based vaccine, the Indian firm said in an exchange filing. An inactivated vaccine consists of virus particles that have been grown in a culture and then lose disease producing capacity.
"Whole inactivated viral vaccines have a higher probability of being safe and efficacious, given their long history and better understanding of their mechanism of action, which has been elucidated over many decades. This vaccine has the potential to become the vaccine of choice for the global fight against covid-19," Rajesh Jain, managing director, Panacea Biotec, was quoted as saying.
The two firms’ joint venture company will undertake a clinical development and make regulatory submissions globally. After regulatory approval, Panacea Biotec and Refana will undertake sales and distribution of the vaccine in their respective territories.
Jain said the two firms aim to manufacture over 500 million doses of the covid-19 candidate vaccine, with over 40 million doses expected to be available for delivery early next year.
Currently, there are over 130 vaccines under various stages of development, including 10 which are undergoing clinical trials, data from the World Health Organization showed. Of the 10 vaccines, four are inactivated vaccines, all of which are being developed in China.
Experts have said the world would need at least five successful vaccine candidates to combat the covid-19 pandemic effectively amid logistic challenges.
