Bharat Bio ready to commence Covid-19 vaccines’ production if required: Suchitra Ella

Suchitra Ella, JMD, Bharat Biotech
| Photo Credit:
KAMAL NARANG

In the wake of increasing concerns over resurgence of Covid-19 cases, Bharat Biotech International is ready for production of its Covid-19 vaccines if warranted.

“We are actively monitoring the developments around JN.1 COVID-19 variant. Our Covid-19 vaccine platforms, both the Injectable and intranasal are enabled for adaptation to circulating strains, and scale-up, with supply capabilities ready to activate if required,’‘ Suchitra Ella, Managing Director, Bharat Biotech told businessline on Saturday. 

The Hyderabad-based vaccine maker is the developer and producer of Covaxin, India’s first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research – National Institute of Virology. It also has launched iNCOVACC, the world’s first intranasal vaccine for Covid-19, specifically formulated to allow intranasal delivery through nasal drops. It works both as a primary series vaccine and as a heterologous booster.

On the current status of vaccine production, Ella said her company would continue to work in close coordination with regulatory bodies to ensure preparedness and align with evolving scientific and safety standards at all times. 

“As always, we are ready to support national and global health initiatives focused on prevention and containment. Our commitment remains rooted in science, responsiveness and safeguarding public health,’‘ she said. 

The company had taken measures to scale up its manufacturing capacity in 2021 across multiple facilities at Hyderabad and Bangalore and has an annual production capacity of one billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine.

Inactivated vaccines such as Covaxin while ‘highly safe’, are extremely complex and expensive to manufacture, resulting in lower yields when compared to live virus vaccines. Bharat Biotech has already put systems in place to initiate and ramp up production.

Published on May 24, 2025