DFC, Biological E to expand Covid vax plant with $50 mn

Hyderabad: US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and Biological E Ltd finalised a US government financing arrangement formalising $50 million to expand the pharma company's capacity to produce Covid-19 vaccine at its manufacturing facility in Hyderabad on Monday.

The continued partnership will help bolster near-term Covid-19 response efforts and will also benefit long-term global health in India and throughout the Indo-Pacific region. This work is in support of the historic commitment set out by US President Biden and his counterparts in the "Quad" – Australia, India, Japan and the US.

"The partnership with Biological E will support capacity for production of more than one billion vaccine doses by the end of 2022 for India and for developing countries around the world," said David Marchick, Chief Operating Officer of DFC.

"Today's agreement represents a model of the close collaboration among countries that will be essential to achieve President Biden's goal of ending the pandemic in 2022. Scaling Biological E's new facility, which is already producing vaccines, will help close the vaccine gap and save lives in developing countries," he said.

Mahima Datla, Managing Director of Biological E, said: "This financial support from the US government was announced at the Quad Summit in March 2021. This investment will not only help us augment our capacity to produce more Covid vaccines, but also help the global community that has been relentlessly fighting against the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic."

DFC's investment in Biological E is part of the agency's Global Health and Prosperity Initiative, which is focused on supporting the global response to the pandemic and strengthening health resilience in developing countries. Through the initiative, DFC is working to catalyse $5 billion in projects that bolster health systems, support infrastructure development, and expand access to clean water, sanitation, and nutrition.