Aurobindo Pharma, Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical manufacturing company, expects to commercialise its COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing facility in Hyderabad, Telangana, by April-May 2021.
The drug manufacturer is investing around Rs 275 crore on the facility which would be utilised to produce vaccines for the treatment of various viral diseases including COVID-19.
Besides developing its own vaccine for the infectious disease and also separately tying up with CSIR for development of a vaccine, the company is planning to collaborate with other companies who may be successful in developing the medication sooner.
The company has taken a three-pronged approach, firstly in terms of its own vaccine; secondly in terms of a tie-up with CSIR Labs, which in fact, there are three different products on three different platforms by three institutes.
Besides, the company is exploring collaboration with potential partners who will be getting ready with the product sooner than its product or even CSIR’s product.
The Hyderabad-based facility will have the capacity to produce around 450 million vaccine doses.
The company is going to undertake a multi-pronged approach when it comes to tying up with partners going ahead.
It will be doing the manufacturing, taking the bulk from partners and over a period the company may even do the bulk and then do the finished dosage. It will also be taking certain markets for distribution as well.
Aurobindo Pharma is developing the vaccine for SARS COV-2 (COVID-19) 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.
The company will not be looking at any large ticket acquisition for the next couple of years. Its capex for FY21 would be around USD 180 million to USD 200 million.
In October 2020, the company inked a pact to divest Natrol, a wholly-owned unit of its US-based subsidiary, to private equity firm New Mountain Capital for USD 550 million (around Rs 4,048 crore).