Chennai: Bharat Biotech Chairperson Krishna Ella on Monday hit back at those criticising the granting of emergency use approval to its coronavirus vaccine candidate, saying that the vaccine was safe and the firm has conducted ‘200% honest clinical trials’.
On Sunday last, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had approved Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for restricted emergency use. The move was however questioned by many, as the company has not published the efficacy data for the vaccine.
At a virtual press conference, Ella said, “Give me one week’s time, I will give you confirmed data. We are not just conducting clinical trials in India. We have done clinical trials in more than 12 countries including the UK. Many people are just gossiping everything in a different direction to just backlash on Indian companies, that is not right for us. We don’t deserve that”.
Calling his company a global one, he said, “People should not accuse us that we don’t know clinical research. We do 200 per cent honest clinical trials and yet we receive backlash”.
Responding to SII’s Adar Poonawala’s comments, he said, “If I am wrong, tell me. Some companies have branded me like water”.
“I think we are the only company I can categorically say [which] has got extensive research experience and extensive publication [in] peer-reviewed journals. Many people say that I am not transparent in my data. I think people should have the patience to read [on the] internet and look at what our articles are,” he added.
Covaxin is the country’s first indigenous vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech, a company based in Hyderabad, with backing from the Indian Council of Medical Research and the National Institute of Virology.
Meanwhile, Bharat Biotech also announced that it is setting up four vaccine manufacturing facilities with a combined capacity of 700 million doses per annum.
“We have four facilities coming up. We are planning around 200 million doses (per annum) in Hyderabad, 500 million doses in other cities. By 2021 we will have 700 million doses capacity… as we speak we have 20 million doses,” Ella stated.