Indian firm Panacea Biotec said that it is partnering with US-based Refana Inc. to develop, manufacture and distribute the Covid-19 vaccine.

New Delhi: Indian firm Panacea Biotec said that it is partnering with US-based Refana Inc. to develop, manufacture and distribute the Covid-19 vaccine.

Under the partnership, Panacea will be responsible for biotec drug production, clinical development and commercial manufacturing. Both Panacea and Refana will sell and distribute the vaccine in their areas.

Coronavirus"The world needs a drug that is safe, effective and available and that can meet the global demand," says Rajesh Jain, Managing Director, Panacea Biotech.

"Together with Refana, our goal is to create more than 500 million doses for Covid 19 patients," he said. More than 40 million doses are expected to be available for delivery early next year.

CoronavirusHe also said that in the next four weeks we are going to develop this vaccine in our laboratories in Delhi and Punjab and after the regulatory toxicology study and animal pre-clinical study, it is expected.

The first phase of the human trial will be held by October. By August, we will begin the CGMP process which will allow us to start testing in October and after that, we will be able to conduct the third phase of the trial on a large scale.