Biological E. Limited

Biological E Limited (also known as BioE) is an Indian biotechnology and biopharmaceutical company based in Hyderabad, Telangana. It specialises in the areas of low-cost vaccine production.^[3]

Biological E Limited

Company type	Private
Industry	Biotechnology, Biopharmaceuticals
Founded	1953; 71 years ago (1953)
Founder	Datla Venkata Krishnam Raju
Headquarters	Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Key people	Mahima Datla (CEO and Managing Director)[1]
Revenue	₹3,820 crore (US$460 million) (FY23)[2]
Net income	₹953 crore (US$110 million) (FY23)[2]
Number of employees	2,500
Website	www.biologicale.com

History

The company was founded by Dr. D.V.K. Raju and Mr. G.A.N. Raju in 1953 as Biological Products Private Limited. It was among the first private sector companies in India to manufacture biological products.^[4] It pioneered Heparin production in India.^[5]

In 1964, Evans Medicals, a U.K. based Pharma Company, which later got merged with Glaxo SmithKline acquired 40% stake in the company, which was subsequently bought back by the promoters in 1995.^{[citation needed]}

During the 1960s and 70s, Biological E developed formulations in cough and digestive enzymes, started manufacturing anti-tetanus serum, and launched anti-TB drugs, TT and DTP vaccines.^[5]

Biological E embarked specialise in low-cost vaccines manufacturing. The company started manufacturing its flagship vaccine product, Pentavalent (DTP Hib HepB) in 2008.^[5] Biological E is a major supplier of vaccines to international development and aid organisations such as WHO, UNICEF, BMGF.^[5]

COVID-19 vaccine development

Main article: Corbevax

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company signed a pact with Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital and Dynavax Technologies to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.^[6][7] The vaccine Corbevax^[8]/Bio E COVID-19 was expected to roll out in 2021 with 75 to 80 million doses manufactured per month; the production was expected to reach 1 billion doses by the end of 2022 under the Quad initiative.^[9][10]

In August 2020, the company signed a deal with Johnson & Johnson to manufacture the latter's vaccine candidate at its Hyderabad facility.^[11] In February 2021, it announced that it would produce over 600 million doses of the single-dose Janssen vaccine annually.^[12][13]

References

1. "Hyderabad's Biological E: The Dark Horse In India's Vaccine Race". Forbes India. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
2. "Biological E. Limited: Ratings reaffirmed". ICRA. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
3. "Biological E cuts children's vaccine price by 30%". thehindubusinessline.com/. 19 April 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
4. "Biological E Limited" (PDF). icra.in. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
5. "Setting up manufacturing facilities for Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine" (PDF). www.tdb.gov.in. Technology Development Board. Retrieved 25 April 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
6. Leo, Leroy (16 November 2020). "Biological E initiates human trials of vaccine". mint.
7. "Coronavirus | Biological E. inks pacts with Johnson & Johnson, Baylor College of Medicine on vaccine". The Hindu. 13 August 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
8. Bharadwaj, Swati (3 June 2021). "Bio E to get Rs 1,500 crore advance from government to reserve 30 crore doses of Corbevax". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
9. "Meet Bio E: India's Oldest Private Vaccine Maker Making 1 Billion Covid Doses". IndiaTimes. 2 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
10. "Biological E covid vaccine: Biological E set for Covid vaccine rollout by August". The Times of India. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
11. "Biological E to manufacture Janssen's Covid-19 vaccine". www.pharmaceutical-technology.com. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
12. "Biological E looking to make 600 million Johnson and Johnson vaccine shots a year". The Times of India. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
13. Leo, Leroy (20 March 2021). "Biological E: The mass producer of Johnson & Johnson vaccine". mint. Retrieved 21 March 2021.