Bharat Biotech, Biofabri tie up to develop, make, distribute TB vaccine ‘MTBVAC’

PTI

Hyderabad, March 16

Bharat Biotech on Wednesday announced partnership with Biofabri, a Spanish biopharmaceutical company, to develop, manufacture and market a new tuberculosis vaccine ‘MTBVAC’.

The partnership would guarantee the supply of TB vaccines in more than 70 countries, especially in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa where there are a high TB incidence, Bharat Biotech said in a press statement here.

The vaccine is being manufactured and developed by Biofabri, in close collaboration with the University of Zaragoza, Spain. MTBVAC was designed and discovered by Carlos Martín and team of the university, the statement said.

“This agreement between Bharat Biotech and Biofabri will guarantee the worldwide production and the supply of the future vaccine in more than 70 countries with high TB incidence,” it said adding MTBVAC is one of the most promising vaccine candidates in the current global TB vaccine pipeline.

“We are proud to announce this partnership with Biofabri, where MTBVAC can become a global TB vaccine. Bharat Biotech has opted for this vaccine candidate owing to its advanced stage of clinical development as well as the extremely promising results from Phase-I and Phase-II clinical trials,” said chairman and managing director of Bharat Biotech Krishna Ella.

“For us, this agreement is a milestone in the MTBVAC project. The contract signed with Bharat Biotech ensures that our vaccine reaches countries such as India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan and South Africa, among others, where tuberculosis is a public health problem due to its high incidence,” said Esteban Rodríguez, CEO of Biofabri.

MTBVAC is the only live attenuated vaccine against mycobacterium tuberculosis in development. MTBVAC would start phase-III clinical trials in Senegal, South Africa and Madagascar in the second half of 2022, the statement added.