BIOLOGICAL E, CANADIAN FIRM TO MANUFACTURE VACCINE

NEW DELHI: Hyderabad-based Biological E Limited has tied up with Canada’s Providence Therapeutics to locally manufacture its coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine candidate, the Hyderabad-based company announced on Tuesday, adding it will run a pivotal trial in India, and seek emergency-use authorisation.

“Providence and Biological E announce the execution of a term sheet that sets forth the material terms for a definitive licensing and collaboration agreement and also outlines the terms for sale by Providence of up to 30 million doses of Providence’s proprietary messenger RNA vaccine, PTXCOVID-19-B, to Biological E and other end-buyers,” the companies said in a joint statement.

“This sale represents the sale of all the remaining 2021 Providence production, plus a portion of the early 2022 Providence production, after accounting for the first sale of Providence vaccines to the Province of Manitoba, Canada,” they added.

Providence will provide the necessary technology transfer for Biological E to manufacture mRNA vaccines in India, with a minimum production capacity of 600 million doses in 2022 and a target capacity of 1 billion doses. Biological E will be responsible for all clinical development and regulatory activities for the mRNA vaccine in India and other jurisdictions licensed by Biological E.

“This initiative is an important commitment by a Canadabased company to help India and other nations vaccinate their citizens against Covid-19. Providence was founded to serve patients, and this commitment by Biological E allows us to achieve that essential goal,” said Brad Sorenson, chief executive officer of Providence, in a statement. The financial terms of the transaction, however, have not been disclosed.