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Aurobindo Pharma inks pact with COVAXX to develop COVID-19 vaccine

Updated : December 24, 2020 12:32 PM IST

COVAXX is currently conducting a Phase 1 clinical trial for the vaccine candidate.

Aurobindo Pharma on Thursday said it has inked a licensing pact with US-based company COVAXX to develop and commercialise a vaccine for COVID-19. The company has entered an exclusive licence agreement to develop, commercialise and manufacture UB-612, the first multitope peptide-based vaccine to fight COVID-19, for India and UNICEF, Aurobindo Pharma said in a regulatory filing.

COVAXX is currently conducting a Phase 1 clinical trial for the vaccine candidate. "This vaccine has immense potential in eliminating shedding, and hence containing, the spread of the pandemic," Aurobindo Pharma Managing Director N Govindarajan said.

As per the agreement, the Hyderabad-based firm has obtained the exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and sell COVAXX's UB-612 vaccine in India and to UNICEF, as well as non-exclusive rights in other select emerging and developing markets. Aurobindo Pharma and COVAXX are partnering on clinical development, manufacturing and marketing of US firm's vaccine candidate, UB-612.

It will manufacture the finished doses at its facilities in Hyderabad. The drug major has the capacity of manufacturing 220 million doses in multi-dose presentation and is building additional facilities to have a total capacity of nearly 480 million doses by June 2021.

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"During this global health crisis response, we must establish partners with the strongest capabilities, like Aurobindo, to prioritise the development and the delivery of our vaccine," COVAXX co-founder and CEO Mei Mei Hu said.

As one of the leading industry players with a strong track record of execution and investment in vaccines, Aurobindo is the ideal partner to advance UB-612 in India and other emerging nations and to support COVAXX's mission of democratising health worldwide, he added.

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