scorecardresearch
Friday, March 29, 2024
Support Our Journalism
HomeHealthFacilitating easy loans, trials abroad — India looks at options to make...

Facilitating easy loans, trials abroad — India looks at options to make Covid vaccine cheaper

The govt is in talks with 5 Covid vaccine makers, and estimates that a dose could cost between Rs 300 and Rs 1,000 under current factors.  

Follow Us :
Text Size:

New Delhi: The Government of India is looking at various options, including facilitating phase 3 vaccine trials in neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and low interest finance options for vaccine manufacturers to bring down prices of the Covid-19 vaccine. A team from the government’s Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) travelled to Bangladesh to hold preliminary discussions.

Currently, the government is in talks with five vaccine companies and estimates the inoculation will cost between Rs 300 and Rs 1,000 per shot.

“We are in touch with five companies on vaccines. These are Bharat Biotech, Serum Institute, Zydus Cadilla, Gennova Biopharmaceuticals and Biological E. From the initial discussions, our estimate is that the vaccine is likely to cost Rs 300-Rs 1000 per dose. But it is premature to make funding calculations based on these numbers,” a senior government official told ThePrint.

“There are many options to bring down prices … for example, when Remdesivir started being manufactured in India on a voluntary licence (VL), the price halved. Apart from VL, there are other options on the table to manage costs. The government could look at easy loans for these companies from financial institutions. We could also facilitate vaccine trials in neighbouring countries,” the official added.

The government is also looking at the obvious economy of scale (larger production and distribution operations) and a competitive market to bring down prices.

This is why a team from the DBT and ICMR travelled to Bangladesh, the official said. “In facilitating the trial in a different country, we are opening up more markets for the vaccine that would bring prices down,” he explained.


Also read: Politicisation of Covid vaccine is a good thing — it means India will get it free


Phase 3 trials in India may not finish in 2020

Top government sources also told ThePrint that none of the phase 3 trials currently underway in the country are expected to be completed this year.

This comes a day after Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawala said that the Oxford vaccine could be ready as early as December, with the first batch of 100 million doses rolling out around mid-2021.

“The trials that are currently on in India will not finish before January. However, there is a provision in the Indian drug regulation law that can bring the vaccine to India sooner. Should the AstraZeneca vaccine (developed by Oxford University) that is in trials in UK, South Africa and Brazil, get clearance from the drug regulator in UK, then, based on that clearance, an exception can be granted to the company about the need to conduct phase 3 trials in India,” said the official quoted above, who added that such an emergency authorisation comes with many conditions.

The drug regulations allow such an exception to be made only for products that have been approved by a handful of foreign regulators, UK being one of them.

The vaccine situation, in terms of the doses available to us and which vaccine candidate is the first off the block, will be more clear in the next three weeks.


Also read: Why India needs to be a model to the world on Covid vaccine delivery


Govt not worried about vaccine distribution infra

While a lot of focus has been on the vaccine cold chain, there is also the issue of transportation of vaccines as and when they become available. The International Air Transport Association has said that 8,000 jumbo jets will be required to transport the vaccines across the world.

However, according to senior officials, the government is losing no sleep on that count.

“You have to understand that the entire vaccine stock that will be needed to inoculate everybody cannot be available at one go. [The government recently told states that it would be a year-long exercise.] Even now, we are transporting vaccines for the 2.64 crore children and about 3 crore pregnant women every year. Those vaccines are also being transported and we have enough refrigerated vans for the purpose. It is not as if we are transporting them in buffalo carts now. As we have said earlier, we are ready to vaccinate 3 crore people — we are ready in all possible ways,” said a health ministry official.


Also read: Govt begins prep for Covid vaccine drive, asks states to set up 3-tier system for rollout


 

Subscribe to our channels on YouTube, Telegram & WhatsApp

Support Our Journalism

India needs fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism, packed with on-ground reporting. ThePrint – with exceptional reporters, columnists and editors – is doing just that.

Sustaining this needs support from wonderful readers like you.

Whether you live in India or overseas, you can take a paid subscription by clicking here.

Support Our Journalism

1 COMMENT

  1. The trials are proceeding at bullock cart pace. They need to be speeded up like in other countries where approval is likely witin 8- 10 months of start of human trials.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Most Popular