Suchitra Ella, Joint Managing Director of Indian Covid vaccine maker Bharat Biotech, expressed confidence in meeting commitments made to the Government of India. The company intends to manufacture 1 billion doses of Covid vaccines (Covaxin) from facilities in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Ankleshwar.
Ella spoke exclusively to Wion's Principal Diplomatic Correspondent Sidhant Sibal about supply chain issues and the Ministry of External Affairs reaching out to "us to help ease the supply chain in these areas that are specific to vaccine manufacturers." The company requires chemicals for testing, and the majority of these chemicals are imported from either Europe or the United States.
“The equipment, more than 60 to 70% of our equipment which is already been procured and has been installed, they also come from western countries where we have internationally validated vendors,” she added.
She assured that "Covaxin was proven to be neutralising" the double mutant variant discovered in India, as well as other variants discovered in South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Brazil. She claims that because the vaccine is a "inactivated whole-cell vaccine," it has an "edge" in dealing with Covid variants. Asked about clinical trials for the 2-18 age group, she said, "It is getting started in the month of June" and if all goes well, Bharat Biotech hoped to complete the trial in 3 months timeline.
Speaking about the clinical trials, Suchitra Ella said, “Clinical trials are a very time-consuming process, though we have timelines for it...standards, timelines, goals etc are conducted as per the special experts' committee and Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) who gives us the authorization to conduct these trials.” Children's trial has been permitted for Covaxin by DCGI. Safety aspect is important in the subject who be children this time.
Mrs. Suchitra Ella is the Co-Founder and Joint Managing Director of Bharat Biotech, which she co-founded in 1996 with Dr. Ella. Mrs. Ella is a strong pillar of support and guidance at Bharat, overseeing a wide range of operations. She has experience in customer operations, finance, marketing, and business development.
Mrs. Suchitra Ella also serves as the Chairperson of the CII Indian Women Network. She is a member of the boards of the ISB Well Wisher's Trust and United Way Hyderabad, an International Charity Partner focused on social empowerment in local communities with a focus on livelihoods, health, and education. She was a former member of TTD's Board of Directors.
Mrs. Ella graduated from the University of Madras with a BA in Economics and Social Sciences. She then earned a diploma in business development from UWCU-Madison, a diploma in real estate management from the University of South Carolina, and a post-graduate diploma in patent law from NALSAR-Hyderabad.
Commenting on the Entrepreneurship Ella says, “Personally, for me, entrepreneurship is not about gender. Entrepreneurship is not gender-based, it's the mindset with which you come. It is the vision, you have to look at the challenge and turn it into an opportunity or try and see if there is a way to finding a solution for it, which is what we as a company from the days our inception is to innovate. Continuously Develop technology, intellectual property to bring solutions to public health.”
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