There are many leading vaccine companies in India who have created their mark in the field of vaccine development and production. There are predictions that India can become a world leader in developing a Covid vaccine and keeping it cheap too.

While chairing a meeting a meeting of the Task Force on Corona Vaccine Development, Drug Discovery, Diagnosis and Testing Modi mentioned that academia, government and industry should increase their efforts for speedy development of a vaccine.

Modi added that the innovative and original manner in which Indian scientists,from basic to applied sciences, have come together is “heartnening”. He also mentioned that hackathon should be held among, computer scientist and drug developing scientist to develop a new vaccine.

With a few going on to the trial stages, around 30 indian vaccines are in different stages of coronavirus vaccine development.

Recently, Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) said that it will likely begin the production of a coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine developed by Oxford University in the next two-three weeks. It also mentioned that it hopes to bring it to the market by October if human clinical trials of the same are successful.

The company has partnered with Oxford University as one of the seven global institutions manufacturing the vaccine.

“SII will be manufacturing the vaccine in anticipation of clinical trials succeeding by September-October in the UK… Following that, SII has undertaken the decision to initiate the manufacture at their own risk. The decision has been solely taken to have a jump-start on manufacturing, to have enough doses available, if the clinical trials work,” said Adar Poonawalla, chief executive officer of the Indian vaccine major, said in a statement.

India and USA have parterned in developing many vacines for many years now. They have worked on stopping dengue, enteric diseases, influenza and TB in their tracks

India is among the largest manufacturer of generic drugs and vaccines in the world. India produces 60 per cent of the world’s vaccines and accounts for 60-80 per cent of the United Nations’ annual vaccine procurement.

India is home to half a dozen major vaccine makers and a host of smaller ones, making doses against polio, meningitis, pneumonia, rotavirus, BCG, measles, mumps and rubella, among other diseases.

The Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech has so far commercialised 16 vaccines, including one against the H1N1 flu, which caused a pandemic in 2009.

Another pharma giant, the Ahmedabad-based Zydus group, which was the first to develop and indigenously manufacture the vaccine to combat Swine Flu during the outbreak in 2010, is also developing the Covid-19 vaccine through its research arm in Europe, Etna Biotech.

Premas Biotech has out-licensed its vaccine candidate to Akers Biosciences Inc, USA. Premas specialises in creating recombinant protein for vaccine development. These proteins target the three proteins on the SARS-CoV-2 virus: the spike protein, envelope protein, and membrane protein.