“ There has been a marked increase in how much the biotech R & D sector has been innovating in India and the world . Covid-19 saw a continued growth in research in the biotech sector , including development of indigenous vaccines , and continued to attract high investments . The pandemic encouraged a lot of partnerships , be it for developing vaccines , or medical paraphernalia that were needed by everyone during the pandemic ,” says Aditya Sharma , Head of Bioprocessing , Merck India .
“ The biggest scientific breakthrough in the 21st century would probably have to be the development of the COVID vaccine . COVID-19 was a situation which was not predicted and we as a Leader in the Life Science industry , wanted to support to get through the pandemic . The major challenge we faced was racing against time as these variants were rapidly mutating , were contagious , life threatening and immune evasive ,” adds Sharma .
India ’ s position as a world leader in vaccine manufacturing and development became prominent during the Covid-19 pandemic , when the world witnessed India ’ s manufacturing capability and capacity . Vaccine development usually is a time-consuming multistep process , including regulatory approvals by different government bodies . Due to global emergency , scientific databases , strain sequences and novel research outcomes were made accessible to all , resulting in real time global knowledge sharing never seen before . All the processes were accelerated by unprecedented collaborative efforts among scientists , industry and government bodies .
“ Covid provided the opportunity for major expansion of our manufacturing potential and also made us realize our limitations like absence of locally produced raw materials . Hopefully , the lessons learned during the pandemic will shape up a better
Government funded vaccine development programmes in India
Indo – US Vaccine Action Programme ( VAP ) National Biopharma Mission ( NBM ) Ind-CEPI Mission Mission COVID Suraksha
INDIA ’ S LEADING VACCINE PLAYERS
Serum Institute of India Bharat Biotech Dr Reddy ’ s Laboratories Zydus Cadila Biological E Gennova Biopharma Panacea Biotec Shantha Biotech Indian Immunologicals BIBCOL
future ready Indian vaccine industry ,” says Dr Amit Prasad .
Maintaining the momentum
Experts feel that maintaining the same kind of momentum in the post-pandemic era will be challenging in the absence of demand for the vaccine . However , the infrastructure created will be useful to manufacture and export vaccines .
“ During the pandemic , in a short time the vaccine companies not only came up with vaccine candidates but also enhanced their capabilities to cope up with global demands for vaccines . It was the result of fast-tracked approvals by government as well as focused approach by industry and academia . Although it is hard to sustain the same momentum due to obvious reasons , however , now the vaccine industry is primed and ready for any such
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