Chennai (Tamil Nadu): Krishna M Ella, the Chairman and Managing Director of Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech International, said that though there is pressure on the company to release its COVID vaccine, it shall not compromise in terms of quality and safety.
During an interaction with members of the Chennai International Centre, Ella said, "Though there is tremendous pressure to develop the vaccine soon, we shall bring it out with highest quality, safely and in affordable price."
"There is compelling pressure on the company to release the vaccine as Covid is spreading unabated. But we shall not compromise in terms of quality and safety," he added.
Refusing to announce any specific date for the release of the vaccine, Ella said that the clinical trials are being carried out in the highest standards, with international bodies keenly observing the company's work.
Explaining that it took six months to complete the first stage of clinical trials of Rotavirus, Ella said that in contrast, it took only 30 days for completion of the first stage of Covaxin (Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine candidate).
He further stated that the Indian vaccine industry was not behind multinational companies, and was even way ahead of China when it comes to technical-clinical experiments.
Read: Bharat Biotech aims to produce world's cheapest COVID-19 vaccine
Several people have apprehensions about the efficiency of Indian companies, but we given them a nice retort with Indian-developed vaccines for Rota Virus, Polio and other diseases, he said.
Ella stated that his company was making all efforts to ensure that its prospective COVID-19 vaccine is within the common man's reach.
"Some years ago, Rotavirus vaccine was released by GSK for $85, whereas Bharat Biotech brought it out with the same quality for one dollar," Ella said, adding that efforts were on to make the COVID-19 vaccine affordable.
"With Covid, not only deaths, but also the whole economic structure is shaken. That is why political leaders and officials are talking a lot about it. Actually, higher number of people are dying in road accidents than from Covid," he said, urging people not to fear.
Read: Minister KTR, Bharat Biotech chairman Dr. Krishna Ella discuss 'the Vaccine race'
