Biological E's Upcoming COVID Vaccine Set To Be India's Most Affordable; To Be Priced Below Rs 400-500 For Both Doses

In what would be a big boost for the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination programme, Hyderabad-based Biological E's upcoming COVID-19 vaccine Corbevax is likely to be the most affordable vaccine in India upon launch after it gets the emergency use authorisation (EUA), reports Times of India.

In an interview with Times of India, the company's managing director Mahima Datla is said to have hinted that both the doses of the receptor binding domain protein vaccine could be priced at a sub-Rs 500 level and that the price may even be lower than Rs 400 for two doses.

The Corbevax vaccine is presently undergoing the third stage clinical trials and has shown promising results in Phase I and Phase II trials.

It should also be noted that the government has already made an advanced payment of Rs 1,500 crore to the company for pre-booking 30 crore doses. This brings down the price per dose to just Rs 50.

The company has already begun the at-risk manufacturing of the vaccine over the last month or so and is likely to begin full-fledged production of 75-80 million doses per month from August onwards.