MUMBAI: Haffkine Bio Pharmaceutical Corporation Ltd in Parel is likely to close technical bids for selection of an agency that will construct a laboratory in two to three weeks.
The bio-safety level-III laboratory, to be constructed on the institute’s premises, is being set up to produce Covaxin. It has been nearly three months since Haffkine signed an MoU with Bharat Biotech.
Officials said the bids were floated more than a month back. “We hope to finalise the agency in weeks. Then it will have four months for construction of the laboratory and a month for validation,” said Dr Sandeep Rathod, managing director, Haffkine BioPharma.
He added that work is proceeding on schedule. “We cannot rush into making vaccines as there are due processes to be followed,” he said. The state had said in June that production could start within a year, and that the company could produce 22.8 crore doses of Covaxin annually.
On technology transfer from Bharat Biotech, officials said they have had several meetings with the Centre, experts from Bharat Biotech and Haffkine. “Things will move faster once the lab is erected,” said an official.
