900 Crore Stimulus Package for Mission COVID Suraksha

The Central Government has announced the third installment stimulus package for the ambitious COVID-19 vaccine development mission – Mission COVID Suraksha. The sanctioned grant of Rs. 900 crore will be given to the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) for Research & Development of Indian COVID-19 vaccines. This mission is focused on end-to-end development, from preclinical, manufacturing to regulatory facilitation for deployment.

The fund is believed to boost the pre-clinical and clinical development; help in licensing the COVID-19 vaccines currently in clinical stages or on the verge of entering the clinical stage of development; set up clinical trial sites, and give strength to existing laboratories and ascertain appropriate facilities for animal studies, testing and production facilities. A key element of the mission would be to develop a suitable Target Product Profile in order to develop vaccines that have the required characteristics applicable for India.

The mission is being led by the Department of Biotechnology  and the implementation has been done at a Mission Implementation Unit at Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC).