Biological E to get $50M from DFC

The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) will extend $50 million in funding to Biological E Limited to raise its capacity to produce COVID vaccines.

David Marchick, Chief Operating Officer of DFC, and Mahima Datla, Managing Director of Biological E, will ink the financing pact on October 25, said a media invite from the US Consulate.

“On October 25, US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) Chief Operating Officer David Marchick and Biological E Limited Managing Director Mahima Datla will formalise a $50-million financing agreement to expand the company’s capacity to produce COVID-19 vaccines,” it said.

The agreement will help strengthen near-term COVID-19 response efforts, besides benefiting long-term health in India and throughout the Indo-Pacific region, it added. America’s development bank DFC partners with the private sector to extend finance to tackle critical challenges facing the developing world.

Earlier in March at the Quad Leaders’ Summit, the US, through the DFC, had said it will work with Biological E to raise its COVID vaccine producing capacity to at least one billion doses by the end of 2022, including the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Earlier, a White House communique had said the manufacturing of the vaccine should be done under the Stringent Regulatory Authorisation (SRA) and/or World Health Organisation (WHO) Emergency Use Listing (EUL) rules. CNBCTV18