5% royalty from Covaxin's net sales will go to ICMR: Centre
The ministry of health and family welfare on Tuesday said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will get five per cent royalty from the net sales of Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin, to be remitted on a half-yearly basis.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 28 July 2021 2:25 AM GMT
Hyderabad: The ministry of health and family welfare on Tuesday said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will get five per cent royalty from the net sales of Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin, to be remitted on a half-yearly basis.
Replying to a question in the Parliament, the Union minister of state for health and family welfare, Dr. Bharati Pawar, said a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) had been signed between ICMR and Bharat Biotech for the development of Covaxin.
As per the key terms of the MoU, ICMR has to provide well-characterized virus strain for the vaccine development and Bharat Biotech has to develop the final vaccine formulation. Also, non-exclusive license has been granted to Bharat Biotech to commercialize the product within two years. The payment of initial seed money of Rs. 5 lakhs for the transfer of inactivated virus strain is to be paid by Bharat Biotech as one-time payment.
The minister further said that the intellectual property will be owned jointly by ICMR and Bharat Biotech. It has also been agreed that the vaccine will be in the joint name of ICMR and Bharat Biotech and the ICMR logo will be put on the product.
While stating that Bharat Biotech has to supply vaccines free of cost for the clinical trial, the minister said the Hyderabad-based firm had agreed to provide vaccines at a reasonable and negotiated price to ICMR as well as all Central and state government bodies/affiliates. Also, Bharat Biotech will prioritize in-country supplies over export of the vaccine.
Bharat Biotech has successfully developed Covaxin, India's first vaccine candidate for COVID-19, in collaboration with ICMR-National Institute of Virology (NIV). The SARS-CoV-2 strain was isolated in NIV, Pune, and transferred to Bharat Biotech. The indigenous, inactivated vaccine was developed and manufactured in Bharat Biotech's BSL-3 (Bio-Safety Level 3) high containment facility located in Genome Valley, Hyderabad. The firm provides vaccine to the Central government at Rs. 150 and to private hospitals at Rs. 1,100.
However, it should be noted that nearly 88 per cent of all vaccine doses administered in India to date have been Serum Institute of India's Covishield.
