Indian Immunologicals likely to start Covaxin antigen production in June: Report

Further, it is informed that production is set to begin in the second week of June and batches of the drug substance will be sent to Bharat Biotech in July.

However, another source told Livemint as culturing the virus takes a lengthy gestation time, even though the production began in mid-June, the vaccine will take another two months to be available.

Further, it was said that even after the drug substance is formed and sent to Bharat Biotech, packaging, adjuvant attachment, and a variety of other steps must be performed before the vaccine is accessible.

In addition, once the fill-finish is completed, it must be sent to Kasauli's CDL (Central Drugs Laboratory) for testing before being published. It takes about three months to complete the whole procedure.

As per the Government data, the drug substances of around 10-15 million doses per month are expected to be produced by Indian Immunologicals Ltd.

Hafkine, Indian Immunologicals Ltd, and Bharat Immunologicals and Biologicals Ltd had earlier received funding from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) (BIBCOL) to accelerate Covaxin production.

It was also reported that Bharat Biotech and Haffkine had received Rs 65 crore each, while Indian Immunologicals and BIBCOL also got an undisclosed amount.