Panacea Biotec joins hands with US-based Refana to develop COVID-19 vaccine

The company is advancing its response to address the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19 by collaborating with Refana Inc to make a vaccine widely accessible around the world in an equitable manner through a joint venture company to be based in Ireland, Panacea Biotec said in a regulatory filing.

The collaboration aims to bring to patients a whole inactivated virus-based vaccine for COVID-19, it added.

As per the partnership, Panacea Biotec will be responsible for product development and commercial manufacturing, while the JV entity undertaking clinical development and regulatory submissions across the world.

Both Panacea and Refana will undertake sales and distribution of the vaccine in their respective territories, it added.

"The world needs a vaccine that is safe, effective, and scalable in a Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) compliant manufacturing facility that has sizeable capacity and capability to cater to global demand," Panacea Biotec Managing Director Rajesh Jain said.

The company in partnership with Refana aims to manufacture over 500 million doses of COVID-19 candidate vaccine, with over 40 million doses expected to be available for delivery early next year, he added.

Whole inactivated viral vaccines have a higher probability of being safe and efficacious, given their long history and better understanding of their mechanism of action, which has been elucidated over many decades, Jain said.