Ocugen pays $15 million upfront to Bharat Biotech for Covaxin rights in Canada

Ocugen in a regulatory filing said it has agreed to pay another USD 10 million to Bharat Biotech within a month from the commercial launch of Covaxin in the North American country.

PTI

June 08, 2021 / 10:46 IST

The NASDAQ-listed Ocugen has rights to commercialise Covaxin in the US.

Ocugen Inc, the US partner for Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine has announced the payment of USD 15 million upfront to the Indian drug maker for extending the vaccine rights to Canada.

Ocugen in a regulatory filing said it has agreed to pay another USD 10 million to Bharat Biotech within a month from the commercial launch of Covaxin in the North American country.

Bharat Biotech on June 3 said it has agreed to expand the agreement with Ocugen Inc to commercialise the jab in Canada also. The Indian biotech company and Ocugen Inc have entered into a definitive agreement to co-develop, supply, and commercialise Covaxin for the US market.

"The Amendment is effective as of May 29, 2021. In consideration of the expansion, pursuant to the Amendment, the Company paid to Bharat (Bharat Biotech) a non-refundable, upfront payment of USD 15 million immediately upon execution of the Amendment. The company further agreed to pay to Bharat a milestone payment of USD 10 million within 30 days of the first commercial sale of Covaxin in Canada," Ocugen said on Monday.

According to Shankar Musunuri, Co-founder of Ocugen, the company which is working towards the submission of the emergency use application in the US, will simultaneously seek authorisation under interim order for emergency use in Canada.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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