Indian drugmaker Biological E. to make substance used in J&J's potential COVID-19 vaccine

Wockhardt

13/08/2020 12:58

BENGALURU, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Indian drugmaker Biological E.
Ltd will begin making a drug substance used in Johnson &
Johnson's  JNJ.N  COVID-19 vaccine candidate that is in early to
mid-stage trials, the companies said on Thursday.
    J&J aims to produce more than 1 billion doses of its vaccine
candidate, and has struck a similar deal with U.S.-based
Emergent BioSolutions Inc  EBS.N  to boost manufacturing.
Large-scale trials for the potential vaccine, Ad26.COV2-S, are
set to start by October.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2FD4TW urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2ED2HH
    Twenty-eight vaccine candidates are currently in human
trials, according to the World Health Organization, as the
global death toll from the novel coronavirus nears 750,000.
    Biological E. Ltd in an email also said it has signed a
licensing agreement with Houston-based Baylor College of
Medicine to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.
    Other Indian companies developing or manufacturing potential
COVID-19 vaccines include the Serum Institute, Wockhardt Ltd
 WCKH.NS , Cadila Healthcare Ltd  CADI.NS  and Panacea Biotec
Ltd  PNCA.NS .
    India on Thursday reported a record daily jump of 67,000
coronavirus infections, taking its total to nearly 2.4 million.
It has the world's third-biggest case load after the United
States and Brazil.

 (Reporting by Anuron Kumar Mitra in Bengaluru)
 ((AnuronKumar.Mitra@thomsonreuters.com; +91 99863 58469))