Haffkine institute should develop Covid vaccine: CM

MUMBAI: Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray wants the state-owned research institute in Mumbai — Haffkine Institute for Training, Research and Testing — to work towards developing a vaccine for Covid-19. He said the institute should also make efforts to produce Covid-19 vaccine with the help of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Bharat Biotech, an Indian biotechnology firm that has developed the country’s first Covid vaccine.

Thackeray said the state government will extend all the help to developing a state-ofthe-art vaccine research centre. He had called a meeting to review the progress of the institute on Tuesday.

ICMR is an apex body in the country for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research.

Dr Sandip Rathod, managing director, Haffkine institute, said they are exploring all options.

The chief minister also asked the research institute to submit a detailed report for implementing reforms recommended by an eight-member committee headed by Dr Raghunath Mashelkar in 2018. The panel has recommended a virology laboratory, national centre for venom standardisation, among other reforms. “The core strength of the institute is research and it should concentrate on that. We want the institute to focus on vaccine research. It should make efforts to develop Covid vaccine. It can also make efforts to get Covid-19 vaccine technology with the help of Bharat Biotech and ICMR. It would be a matter of pride for all of us if the institute succeeds in developing a vaccine for Covid,” the chief minister said in the review meeting.

“Haffkine is a world-renowned research institute and is expected to maintain that status. It should work on a long term plan for rejuvenating the institute by making it self-sustainable,” he added.

Haffkine is a public sector undertaking owned by the state government and has developed a number of vaccines that include anti-rabies serum, antivenom serum, oral polio vaccine etc. Dr Rathod said, “We are exploring options for developing all the vaccines, including the one against Covid-19. There are two options available, first is to develop it on our own and another is to reproduce the vaccine by taking the technology from a firm that has already developed it.”

The eight-member panel headed by Dr Mashelkar had also recommended a five-point reform report which will need a grant of ₹1,100 crore and was expected to be completed in five years.