Tag: Bharat Biotech

Morning Digest: Roads to be freed of toll booths in a year, says Nitin Gadkari; EU drug regulator backs AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 after safety investigation, and more

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India will implement a GPS-based toll collection system and do away with all toll booths within a year, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari informed the Lok Sabha on Thursday. He also shared details of the vehicle scrapping policy, first announced in the Union Budget for 2021-22, according to which the automobile industry in India will see a jump in turnover to ₹10 lakh crore from ₹4.5 lakh crore.

Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde agreed with advocate Prashant Bhushan on Thursday to urgently hear a plea by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms to stay the sale of a new set of electoral bonds on April 1, before Assembly elections in crucial States such as West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.

Top U.S. and Chinese officials offered sharply different views of the world on March 18 as the two sides met face-to-face for the first time since President Joe Biden took office. In unusually pointed remarks for a staid diplomatic meeting, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Communist Party foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi took aim at each other’s policies at the start of two days of talks in Alaska.

The EU’s drug watchdog said on March 18 it is still convinced the benefits of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine outweigh the risks following an investigation into reports of blood disorders that prompted more than a dozen nations to suspend its use.

The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed the Insurance Amendment Bill 2021 that increases the maximum foreign investment allowed in an insurance company from 49% to 74%, amid criticism from the Opposition parties on the clause enabling “control and ownership” by foreign investors.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday forbade judges from making gender stereotypical comments like “’good women are sexually chaste”, women who drink and smoke ‘ask’ for sexual advances or presume that a sexually active woman consented to rape while hearing cases of sexual offence.

Union Communications and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Thursday that climate activist Disha Ravi’s arrest was based on law and order and it is under judicial process. He added that the House should consider “should some people abuse social media internationally to defame India to promote secessionism.”

Former Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Arvind Subramanian resigned from Ashoka University on Thursday, days after noted columnist and political commentator Pratap Bhanu Mehta’s exit. In his resignation letter, Dr. Subramanian, said he had been “devastated” by “the circumstances involving the ‘resignation’ of Professor Pratap Bhanu Mehta” two days earlier.

In a major embarrassment to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), two candidates announced by the party on Thursday for the Assembly polls from Kolkata have refused to contest on the party’s ticket.

The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed suo motu proceedings before the Delhi High Court on the administration of COVID-19 vaccine and transferred the case to itself. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde said a similar case concerning the vaccination drive was already pending in the Supreme Court, and the case from the Delhi High Court could be heard along with it.

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to urgently hear a plea to release and protect over 150 Rohingya refugees reportedly “detained” in Jammu. Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde agreed to hear the application filed by a member of the Rohingya community, Mohammad Salimullah, represented by advocates Prashant Bhushan and Cheryl d’Souza, on April 25 (Thursday). Mr. Bhushan made an oral mention before the CJI for an early hearing.

The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the supplementary demand for grants (second batch for 2020-21) but not before significant concerns raised by Opposition leaders on the government’s disinvestment and asset monetisation plans, and rising fuel prices.

If Ishan Kishan was unfortunate to be ruled out of the fourth T20I due to a groin strain, lady luck smiled on his replacement Suryakumar Yadav. The Mumbai cricketer, dropped for the previous outing after not having faced a ball on his debut in the second T20I, grabbed his chance and made it count.

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SC stays hearings related to Covid-19 vaccines in Delhi and Bombay high courts | India News – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed all the hearings related to Covid-19 vaccines in Delhi and Bombay high courts. The court transferred to itself a case on the coronavirus vaccine which was pending before the Delhi high court.
The apex court issued a notice to Serum Institute, Bharat Biotech on pleas for transfer of cases to top court.
A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde took note of the pleas of the two firms that the high courts are conducting parallel proceedings on vaccine related issues and they need to be transferred to the top court for an authoritative judgement.
It also sought responses from the Centre and others on pleas of the Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech seeking transfer of the cases from the high courts to the apex court.
The vaccine manufacturing firms have said different high courts are seeking data on how many vaccines are produced and when they will give vaccines to all.
( With agency inputs)

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Coronavirus | India records 18,327 new COVID-19 infections, active cases rise again

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The COVID-19 active caseload has increased to 1,80,304 which now comprises 1.61% of the total infections

India’s COVID-19 tally rose to 1,11,92,088 with over 18,000 fresh cases being reported in a span of 24 hours in the country after 36 days, while active cases registered an increase for the fourth consecutive day on March 6 and were recorded at 1,80,304, according to the Union Health Ministry.

The death toll reached 1,57,656 with 108 more fatalities, while a total of 18,327 new cases were registered in a day, the Ministry’s data showed.

On January 29, 18,855 new infections were recorded in a span of 24 hours after which the daily rise in fresh cases remained below 18,000.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,08,54,128 which translates to a national COVID-19 recovery rate of 96.98%, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.41%.

The COVID-19 active caseload has increased to 1,80,304 which now comprises 1.61% of the total infections.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20 lakh-mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one crore-mark on December 19.

According to the ICMR, 22,06,92,677 samples have been tested up to March 5 with 7,51,935 samples being tested on March 5.

The 108 new fatalities include 53 from Maharashtra, 16 from Kerala and 11 from Punjab.

A total of 1,57,656 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 52,393 from Maharashtra followed by 12,513 from Tamil Nadu, 12,354 from Karnataka, 10,918 from Delhi, 10,275 from West Bengal, 8,729 from Uttar Pradesh and 7,172 from Andhra Pradesh.

The Health Ministry stressed that more than 70% of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the Ministry said on its website, adding that State-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

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Delhi high court asks Serum Institute, Bharat Biotech to disclose capacity to manufacture Covid-19 vaccines | India News – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Thursday directed Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech to disclose their capacities to manufacture Covaxin, Covishield vaccines.
The high court also asked the Centre to explain in affidavit the rationale behind keeping strict control over class of persons who can be vaccinated against Covid-19 currently as under the present system those above the age of 60 years or between 45 to 60 years with comorbidities can receive vaccination.
A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli said the two institutes– Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech — have more capacity to provide the vaccines but it seems that they are not exploiting it fully.
“We are not utilising it fully. We are either donating it to foreign countries or selling it to foreign countries and are not vaccinating our own people. So there has to be that sense of responsibility and urgency,” the bench said.
It also asked the Delhi government to carry out inspection of medical facilities available in court complexes here and to report if Covid-19 vaccination centres could be set up there.
The high court was hearing a PIL initiated by it to examine the demand of Bar Council of Delhi to declare all people associated with the judicial functioning, including judges, court staff and lawyers as “frontline workers” so that they could receive Covid-19 vaccination on priority and without limitations of their age or physical condition.

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81% Interim Efficacy Data Shot in the Arm for Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin Export Hopes

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The first interim review of Phase-3 trials for Bharat Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin revealed 81 percent efficacy, providing a boost to the Indian business, which is eyeing exports and hopes to join the World Health Organization’s COVAX program for vaccination in low- and middle-income countries.

The first interim study is focused on 43 cases, with 36 cases of COVID-19 in the placebo group versus 7 cases in the Covaxin group, yielding an 80.6 percent point estimate of vaccine efficacy.

In the coming weeks, the Hyderabad-based firm said it would share the second interim analysis based on 87 cases, as well as the final analysis based on 130 cases. This will provide a more complete image of the vaccine’s efficacy.

Bharat Biotech Chairman and Managing Director Krishna Ella had recently said he wanted the firm to be part of the COVAX Facility. In the next three months, the COVAX program has committed to supplying 237 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine to 142 countries.

Bharat Biotech has begun to sign bilateral supply agreements for Covaxin. It announced on February 26 that it had signed a deal with Brazil to supply 20 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin. The deliveries are scheduled to start in the second and third quarters of 2021, but a lack of efficacy data has been a stumbling block, said a report in Moneycontrol. Reuters had reported that Brazilian prosecutors have sought immediate suspension of purchases of India’s Covaxin as the vaccine didn’t have phase-3 efficacy data.

Meanwhile, France is also looking to import Covaxin, Moneycontrol had reported. Covaxin has piqued the attention of more than 40 countries around the world, according to Bharat Biotech. “These countries are highly satisfied with the safe, inactivated vaccine technology and robust data package for safety and immunogenicity,” the firm said.

Covaxin also has a time-tested inactivated platform that has been shown to be successful against mutating strains. Unlike other vaccines that use one of the virus’s most prominent proteins as an antigen, which is susceptible to losing effectiveness if the virus mutates, this one does not. Inactivated vaccines use whole virion, which is more durable and provides a wider range of protection.

Covaxin is also stable at 2 to 8°C (refrigerated) and comes in a ready-to-use liquid formulation, allowing it to be distributed across existing vaccine supply chains.

The company also claims to have a 28-day open vial policy as a unique product feature, which it claims reduces vaccine wastage by 10-30%.

Furthermore, Covaxin has had the government’s full support from the start. Despite criticism that it lacked efficacy evidence, the vaccine was approved for limited emergency use in clinical trial mode in January. Modi’s Atmanirbhar has highlighted Covaxin as a success story.



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Infosys, Accenture to cover Covid-19 vaccination costs for Indian workers – Times of India

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BENGALURU: Information Technology major Infosys Ltd and consulting and outsourcing services provider Accenture Plc said on Wednesday they would cover Covid-19 vaccination costs for their employees in India, as the country expands its massive vaccination drive.
India’s vaccination campaign ramped up on Monday, with people above the age of 60, and individuals 45 or older suffering from certain medical conditions, now eligible for shots.
Coronavirus: Live updates
Vaccines administered at government health facilities will still be free, while private facilities cannot charge more than Rs 250 ($3.43) per dose, the government has said.
“Infosys is looking at partnering with health care providers to vaccinate employees and their immediate families as eligible,” chief operating officer Pravin Rao said in an emailed statement.
For Accenture, costs for employees and dependents who are eligible and choose to receive the vaccination will be covered, the company said.
So far, the government has procured the two Covid-19 vaccines approved in India – AstraZeneca‘s shot being developed by the Serum Institute, and local player Bharat Biotech‘s Covaxin – at fixed prices and distributed them free of cost.
Several Indian companies, including autos-to-technology conglomerate Mahindra Group and consumer goods giant ITC Ltd, had already started considering buying Covid-19 vaccines for their employees as early as in January.

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After Power Grid, China Hackers Also Targeted Indian Vaccine Makers for ‘Competitive Advantage’: Report

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A Chinese state-backed hacking group has in recent weeks targeted the IT systems of two Indian vaccine makers whose coronavirus shots are being used in the country’s immunisation campaign, cyber intelligence firm Cyfirma told Reuters.

Rivals China and India have both sold or gifted COVID-19 shots to many countries. India produces more than 60% of all vaccines sold in the world.

Goldman Sachs-backed Cyfirma, based in Singapore and Tokyo, said Chinese hacking group APT10, also known as Stone Panda, had identified gaps and vulnerabilities in the IT infrastructure and supply chain software of Bharat Biotech and the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine maker.

“The real motivation here is actually exfiltrating intellectual property and getting competitive advantage over Indian pharmaceutical companies,” said Cyfirma Chief Executive Kumar Ritesh, formerly a top cyber official with British foreign intelligence agency MI6.

A new study has also revealed that computer networks of at least 12 Indian state-run organisations, primarily power utilities and load dispatch centres, have been targeted by Chinese state-sponsored groups since mid-2020 in an attempt to inject malware that could cause widespread disruptions. According to the study by Recorded Future, a US-based company that monitors the use of the internet by state actors for cyber-campaigns, NTPC Limited, the country’s largest power conglomerate, five primary regional load dispatch centres that aid in the management of the national power grid by balancing electricity supply and demand, and two ports were among the organisations attacked.

Ritesh said APT10 was actively targeting SII, which is making the AstraZeneca vaccine for many countries and will soon start bulk-manufacturing Novavax shots.

“In the case of Serum Institute, they have found a number of their public servers running weak web servers, these are vulnerable web servers,” Ritesh said, referring to the hackers.

“They have spoken about weak web application, they are also talking about weak content-management system. It’s quite alarming.”

China’s foreign ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

SII and Bharat Biotech declined to comment. The government-run Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, with whom Cyfirma said it had shared its findings, had no immediate comment.

The U.S. Department of Justice said in 2018 that APT10 had acted in association with the Chinese Ministry of State Security.

Microsoft said in November that it had detected cyber attacks from Russia and North Korea targeting COVID-19 vaccine companies in India, Canada, France, South Korea and the United States. North Korean hackers also tried to break into the systems of British drugmaker AstraZeneca, Reuters has reported.

Ritesh, whose firm follows the activities of some 750 cyber criminals and monitors nearly 2,000 hacking campaigns using a tool called decipher, said it was not yet clear what vaccine-related information APT10 may have accessed from the Indian companies.

Bharat Biotech’s COVAXIN shot, developed with the state-run Indian Council of Medical Research, will be exported to many countries, including Brazil.

U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech SE said in December that documents related to development of their COVID-19 vaccine had been “unlawfully accessed” in a cyberattack on Europe’s medicines regulator.

Relations between nuclear-armed neighbours China and India soured last June when 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a Himalayan border fight. Recent talks have eased tension.



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