The US development bank will help Indian biopharmaceutical company Biological E produce one billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines to be deployed by the end of 2022 as part of the ambitious new vaccine partnership unveiled at the inaugural Quad Summit.
The four countries agreed on Friday to pool their financial resources, manufacturing capacities and logistics forces to accelerate the manufacture and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines in the region as part of efforts to boost post-pandemic recovery .
The initiative will create additional manufacturing capacity in India, the world’s largest vaccine producer, to manufacture doses developed in the United States, including candidate Johnson & Johnson. This will be done with funding from the United States and Japan.
Australia will help overcome last mile and logistics delivery challenges and help deliver vaccines to countries in Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Islands.
The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) announced that it “will fund increased capacity to support Biological E’s efforts to produce at least 1 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine by the end of 2022”.
This will be done with Strict Regulatory Authorization (SRA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Emergency Use List.
The move is part of DFC’s Global Health and Wealth Initiative, where it increases the capacity to manufacture, produce and distribute vaccines.
The Quad Vaccine Partnership was considered the most important product of the first summit of leaders from India, Australia, Japan and the United States. Observers believe the move will help counter China’s influence across the Indo-Pacific while signaling that the Quad is evolving from a group that only discusses strategic approaches to cooperation in specific areas.
David Marchick, Managing Director of DFC, said: “It is difficult to conceive of an investment having a greater impact on development than using our financial tools to increase vaccine manufacturing capacity to help countries. developing Asia and the world other diseases. “
He added, “Expanding vaccine manufacturing, especially the Covid-19 vaccine and booster shots, will help increase vaccination rates and protect communities around the world.”
The partnership with Biological E, which is a women-led company, will also advance DFC’s “2X Women’s Initiative” to promote global gender equity.
Mahima Datla is currently the Managing Director of Biological E, which was founded in 1953 and became the first Indian private sector company to enter the vaccine business in 1962. The company launched business operations in the United States in 2019 .
The DFC is also working to strengthen the vaccine supply chain and last mile logistics for distribution. As part of its Global Initiative for Health and Prosperity, DFC will invest between $ 5 million and $ 500 million in eligible projects, including equity and debt financing, political risk insurance and technical development. .