Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech on Thursday said that biopharmaceutical company Ocugen Inc will have exclusive co-development, manufacturing, and commercialisation rights of its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin in Canada, in addition to its existing United States rights.
According to Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, and Co-founder of Ocugen Dr Shankar Musunuri, Covaxin is yet to get approval for emergency use in the US and Canada.
"Ocugen Inc. and Bharat Biotech today announced that they have entered into an amendment to their Co-development, Supply, and Commercialization Agreement to expand Ocugen's exclusive territory to commercialize Covaxin to now also include Canada, in addition to Ocugen's existing rights to commercialize Covaxin in the United States," said a joint statement by both companies.
Dr Shankar Musunuri said that this amendment to expand his company's rights to commercialise Covaxin into Canada speaks to its strong relationship with Bharat Biotech and joint dedication of both companies to bring vaccine to additional countries.
"As we work towards the submission of the emergency use application in the US, we will simultaneously seek authorization under interim order for emergency use in Canada. We believe Covaxin has the potential to play a key role in saving lives from COVID-19 in the US and Canada, as well as across the globe, due to the strong immune response it generates against multiple antigens," he added.
Dr Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Biotech said that Covaxin has demonstrated an excellent safety record in human clinical trials and in vaccine administration under emergency use in India.
"Our goal for all vaccines developed at Bharat Biotech is to provide global access. With its potential effectiveness against multiple existing and emerging variants, we believe that Covaxin is an important vaccine for everyone, including children, based on its unique yet traditional vaccine platform. We are diligently working with Ocugen to bring Covaxin to the US market and now to the Canadian market," he said.
As consideration for Bharat Biotech's grant of the rights to commercialise Covaxin in Canada, Ocugen will make an upfront payment and milestone payment upon first commercial sale in Canada to Bharat Biotech, in addition to sharing the profit from sales of Covaxin in Canada.
Similar to the US profit share arrangement, Ocugen will retain 45 per cent of the profits from sales of Covaxin in Canada.
( With inputs from ANI )
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