India’s coveted pharmaceutical industry has the capacity to produce COVID-19 vaccines not just for the country but also for the entire world, according to Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates. A lot of “very important things have been done” in India and its pharma industry is doing work “to help make the coronavirus vaccine building on other great capacities that they have used for other diseases”, said the Co-Chair and Trustee of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Speaking in a documentary – COVID-19: India’s War Against The Virus to be premiered on Discovery Plus this (Thursday) evening, Gates said India also faces a huge challenge due to the health crisis because of its gigantic geographical area and urban clusters with a lot of population density.
Commenting on the strength of India’s pharma industry, he said, “India has a lot of capacity there with the drug and vaccine companies that are huge suppliers to the entire world. You know, more vaccines are made in India than anywhere starting with Serum Institute, that’s the largest.”
He further said, “But (there are) also Bio E, Bharat (Biotech), many others. They are doing work to help make the coronavirus vaccine, building on other great capacities that they have used for other diseases.”
Stating that India joined Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which is a group working on a global basis to build vaccines platforms, Gates said, “I am excited that the pharmaceutical industry there will be able to produce not just for India but also for the entire world. (This is) What we need to reduce the deaths and make sure we are immune, which is how we end the epidemic.”
Gates said Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is also a “partner with the government, particularly with the department of biotechnology, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the office of the principal scientific advisor provide advice and help about getting these tools going”. Commenting on the deadly virus breaching India’s borders in the documentary which was shot extensively during the period of lockdown, he said, “India is still at the beginning of this, but there’s a lot of very important things have been done.
He, however, added: “Yet people are stepping up… Looking at how we reduce the spread while trying not to reduce food availability, equipment that people need.”
PNN/Agencies