India’s Pharmaceutical Industry Capable Of Producing COVID-19 Vaccine, Says Bill Gates

By OB Bureau On Jul 16, 2020

New Delhi: Expressing immense confidence in India, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on Thursday said India’s pharmaceutical industry will be able to produce COVID-19 vaccines not just for the country but also for the entire world, reported The New Indian Express (TNIE).

Speaking in a documentary, ‘COVID-19: India’s War Against The Virus’ to be premiered on Discovery Plus today, Gates said India also faces a huge challenge due to the health crisis because of its gigantic size and urban centres with a lot of population density. The documentary was shot during the lockdown.

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”, the Co-Chair and Trustee of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was quoted as saying by HT.

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,” the report added.

He further said in the documentary, “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.”

Gates said in the documentary that the 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, he said, “India is still at the beginning of this, but there’s a lot of very important things have been done.

“It’s a huge challenge with India because you’ve got a gigantic country. You’ve got your urban centers with a lot of density and so that drives the spread. You have people moving around.” He, however, added in the documentary, “Yet people are stepping up. Looking at how we reduce the spread while trying not to reduce food availability, equipment that people need.”