Vaccine maker Biological E Ltd (BE) on Monday, 16 May, announced that it has reduced the price of its COVID-19 vaccine corbevax, from Rs 840 to Rs 250 a dose inclusive of GST, for private COVID-19 vaccination centres.
For the end user, the price would be Rs 400 a dose, including taxes and administration charges.
The Hyderabad-based company said it has lowered the price of its vaccine with the aim of making it more affordable and help increase the reach to protect the maximum number of children against the virus.
The decision comes within weeks of Biological E received Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) for children between 5 and 12 years of age. The previous private market price for the vaccine was Rs 990 per dose, including taxes and vaccine administration charges.
Corbevax is also offered in a single-dose vial, making it more convenient for vaccine administration. It eliminates vaccine wastage, which is a major advantage for private hospitals.
The Corbevax vaccination slot can be booked through the Co-WIN app or the Co-WIN portal for children aged 12 to 17.
So far, 43.9 million doses of Corbevax have been administered to children across the country and Biological E has supplied close to 100 million doses to the government. Biological E, in collaboration with Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine, has developed a recombinant protein sub-unit vaccine for the novel coronavirus, Corbevax.
Prior to receiving EUA for vaccination, the company conducted Phase 2 and 3 multicentre clinical trials in 624 children aged 5-12 and 12-18.
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