Gates Ventures, CEPI plan to fund Indian vaccine makers

One of the companies with which Gates Ventures is in talks is Pune-based Genova, which is developing India’s first mRNA vaccine, the people said, requesting anonymity. He said Genova is expected to get emergency approval for its vaccine candidate from India’s drug regulator by the end of this year.

The Gates Foundation and other such organizations are restarting efforts to reach COVID vaccines in countries where India, the world’s largest vaccine maker, halted exports after a devastating second wave. Only 6% of Africa’s population is fully vaccinated, highlighting global inequalities in access to COVID shots.

An email sent to the Gates Foundation on Tuesday did not elicit any response. An external spokesperson for Genoa did not respond to emails.

Gates Ventures has previously invested in companies such as Aurobindo Pharma and Biological E to help them manufacture anti-HIV drugs and scale up vaccine manufacturing. According to the organization’s website, Gates Ventures has a minimum investment size of $5 million. The Gates Foundation has also provided grants indirectly to the Serum Institute of India (SII).

Norway-based Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI) is also in talks with Indian vaccine makers for potential early-stage investment in COVID-19 vaccine candidates, one of the three people said. A CEPI spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The government’s decision to open exports of the Kovid vaccine earlier this month has brought relief to vaccine companies in the final phase of clinical trials. Vaccine makers like Biologic E, Genova and SII are eyeing exports and booster shots for Indians.

Biologicals E, which is developing a COVID vaccine, and Johnson & Johnson from the US government’s Development Finance Corp (DFC) as part of the Quad initiative to expand COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing to low- and middle-income countries has received $50 million. . As part of the agreement, Biological E is expected to manufacture more than 1 billion vaccine doses by the end of 2022.

Earlier this year, several financial institutions, including Exim Bank and the Japanese Bank of International Corp (JBIC), met with vaccine manufacturers to explore funding strategies to help them scale up their manufacturing. In July, Exim and JBIC offered funding of up to $300 million to vaccine companies.

Despite the government’s decision to halt vaccine exports earlier this year to focus its vaccination campaign, global organizations expect India to play a key role in supplying to developing countries. Last month, World Health Organization chief scientific officer Soumya Swaminathan said in an interview that India expected to send 20 million doses of Covishield to the Kovax facility. SII has committed to supply up to 1 billion doses of AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine by the end of 2021. Swaminathan said that from January, exports from India may increase.

Cadila Healthcare, which has developed India’s first DNA vaccine, indicated that it would start exporting through separate country filings after receiving authorization from WHO or fulfilling its commitments to the government. Currently, Covishield and Covaxin are the only WHO-approved vaccines from India.

At the G20 meeting in Rome last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Indian companies would be ready to manufacture 5 billion doses by the end of 2022. However, India still lags behind China, which has supplied its nearly 3 billion COVID vaccines. In 50 countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America, according to data from healthcare intelligence firm Airfinity.