Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, July 20 : Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel/DoPT, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh informed the Rajya Sabha today that Mission “COVID Suraksha” has been launched by the Department of Biotechnology to develop Indian vaccines.
In reply to a question in the Upper House, the Minister stated that this initiative was announced as a part of the third stimulus package, “Atmanirbhar Bharat 3.0” for promoting research and development of Indian COVID-19 vaccines. Currently, the Mission is supporting the development of four vaccine candidates in the clinical stage of development and one vaccine candidate in the advanced pre-clinical stage of development, he added.
The reply also contained the details of each of the five vaccine candidates, which are being developed with the support of the following manufacturers. These include Cadila Healthcare Ahmedabad, Gujarat, Biological E-Limited Hyderabad, Telangana,Bharat Biotech International Limited Hyderabad, Telangana,Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Limited Pune,Maharashtra and Genique Life Sciences Pvt Limited Gurugram, Haryana.
As per the reply, Mission “COVID Suraksha” is being implemented by Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) of the Department of BioTechnology. The total cost estimated of the Mission is Rs. 900 crore for twelve months.
The clinical development of Vaccine candidates is being undertaken at the clinical trial sites across the country, PAN-India. Also, facility augmentation of Bharat Biotech and three Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) for augmentation for production of Covaxin is being supported under the Mission.
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