India to be ‘Silicon Valley’ for vaccines: US

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 25

The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) chief operating officer David Marchick and Biological E. MD Mahima Datla on Monday unveiled the expansion of the vaccine maker’s manufacturing facility in Hyderabad.

They finalised a US government financing arrangement formalising $ 50 million to expand the company’s capacity, said a DFC news release here.

This work is in support of the commitment set out by President Biden and his counterparts in the “Quad” – Australia, India, Japan, and the US – added the release.

The aim is to support Biological E to produce over 100 crore vaccine doses by the end of 2022 for India and for developing countries.

Marchick is leading a team of Biden officials for this initiative. “We’re trying to help create hubs for vaccine manufacturing and hubs for this type of expertise. Much like Silicon Valley is a hub for technology,’’ he has said.

The DFC helps secure US financing for infrastructure projects in the developing world. It was created, in part, to compete with China’s infrastructure loan program, the Belt and Road Initiative.

The DFC has committed nearly $600 million to Covid vaccine-related investments.

“What we’ve learned through the pandemic is that we need stronger and diversified supply chains. So we’ve been focused on driving manufacturing in different regions in large countries like India and smaller countries like South Africa,’’ Marchick has said.

Biden has stepped up to meet the developing world’s vaccine needs through the Quad but he’s also faced criticism from the WHO and others for offering booster shots to fully vaccinated Americans when millions of people around the world were yet to receive a first dose.