Bharat Biotech Director V. Krishna Mohan on Thursday said that it was an enormous challenge to develop the Covaxin in "just 10 months". The pharma major director made these remarks while addressing the Tech Summit-2021 session at Bengaluru.
Mohan also said that there were no vaccines when the Covid-19 hit India and the world, but the Central government had taken the right steps at that point of time.
He further added that since there were no past precedents, the task to develop a vaccine in such a short span of time seemed impossible. However, Bharat Biotech succeeded and accomplished the goal in less than a year.
"This was a daunting challenge for the pharma sector and the prospective vaccine makers. We were given just 10 months to develop a vaccine to fight the infection but we could succeed in developing Covaxin swiftly at a level within these few months," he added.
Also Read | India now world's third-largest domestic aviation market: Scindia
The company chalked out a plan to make and develop the vaccine in India, he added.
V. Krishna Mohan further said it is difficult to quantify the hard work that went into the making of the vaccine, adding the company did not compromise on the quality or efficacy of the vaccine at any point of time.
He said Bharat Biotech was successful in releasing Covaxin in a record time and helped to save lives of crores of fellow Indians.
The Indian Council of Medical Research has positively changed its style of functioning in the last decade, he added.
Participating in the session, Deepak Sapra, CEO, API & Services, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, said: "Covid has taught us tough lessons. With the help of our Russian partner we could develop 'Sputnik V' vaccines which not only helped India but also other developed countries. However, in respect of vaccine development it is a long way to go for India and Indian pharma companies."
Divya Bizwan, Senior Vice-President of Aurobindo Pharma, said there was no dearth of talent in India.
Also Read | Rabi sowing picking up, wheat and oilseeds march ahead
"But, there is hardly any recognition for talent in pharma companies. It is necessary for vaccine makers to recognize this need and be more encouraging to the pool of talent that Indian pharma sector has."
Atin Tomar, CEO of Yapan Bio, also participated in the session.
