Hyderabad, 15thSeptember 2020: The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)and Aurobindo Pharma Limitedare pleased to announce a collaboration to develop vaccinesto protect againstSARS-CoV-2, also known as COVID-19. Under the signed agreement between CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and Aurobindo Pharma, Aurobindo will partner with CSIR for development of several novel COVID-19 vaccines. Three CSIR labsnamely CCMB Hyderabad, Institute of Medical Technology (IMTECH), Chandigarh and Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB), Kolkata are developingvaccine candidates using different technology platforms. Aurobindo will undertake clinical development and commercialization of the vaccines.
Commenting on this partnership, Dr Shekhar C Mande,Director General, CSIR, said that “Joining of hands of premier CSIR labs with industry for development of vaccines will amplify India’s efforts in indigenous vaccine development and also help in preparedness for future pandemics”.
Commenting on the development strategies for the vaccines, Dr. Rakesh Mishra, Director, CSIR-CCMB said,“Our labs are working on novel proteins for vaccine development that have the potential to address the need for a second-generation vaccine. We are happy to partner with Aurobindo who have proven manufacturing and commercialization capabilities”
Commenting on the development, Mr N. Govindarajan, Managing Director, Aurobindo Pharma Limited said “We are proud to join hands with CSIR for developing vaccines to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. This collaboration further strengthens our COVID-19 vaccine development efforts. We are already setting up a large-scale facility in Hyderabad for manufacturing COVID-19 vaccine and other viral vaccines.”
Apart from this collaboration, Aurobindo is already developing a vaccine for SARS COV-2 through its wholly owned US subsidiary Auro Vaccines. The SARS COV-2 vaccine candidate is based on the company’s proprietary replication competent, attenuated, recombinant vesicular stomatitis (VSV, VesiculoVax™) vaccine delivery platform.
About Aurobindo Pharma:
Aurobindo Pharma Limited (www.aurobindo.com) (NSE: AUROPHARMA, BSE: 524804, Reuters: ARBN.NS, Bloomberg: ARBP:IN), headquartered at Hyderabad, India, manufactures generic pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. The company’s manufacturing facilities are approved by several leading regulatory agencies like US FDA, UK MHRA, Japan PMDA, WHO, Health Canada, MCC South Africa, ANVISA Brazil. The company’s robust product portfolio is spread over major therapeuticareas encompassing CVS, CNS,Antibiotics,Anti-Retrovirals, Gastroenterology, Anti-Allergies and AntiDiabetics, supported by an outstanding R&D, manufacturing and distribution set-up. The Company is marketing these products globally, in over 150 countries. Aurobindo Pharma has several WHO prequalified products. The company is currently engaged in manufacturing Phase 3 materials of its Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in its state of art vaccine manufacturing facility in India.
