Bharat Biotech corrects ‘unintentional mistake’, adds ICMR as co-owner of Covaxin patent
The company further said, though this was “purely unintentional”, such mistakes are “not uncommon for the patent office therefore Patent Law provides provisions to rectify such mistakes”. The vaccine maker added it has “great respect for ICMR and is thankful to the agency for their continuous support on various projects”.
- Jun 23, 2024,
- Updated Jun 23, 2024 11:46 AM IST
Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) has added the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) as a co-owner of the Covid vaccine patent.
The Hyderabad-based vaccine maker had not included ICMR in its original patent filing for Covaxin, which had led to a row. In a statement, the company termed the omission as “unintentional”.
“Bharat Biotech was working on developing the Covid-19 vaccine as a top priority to ensure product availability at the earliest. The Covid vaccine development of BBIL was faced with multiple challenges, and all organisations were in a rush to develop vaccines and file the appropriate patents, prior to any other entity or prior to any data being published in journals,” the company said.
“Therefore, as soon as this inadvertent mistake was noticed, BBIL has already started the process to rectify it by including ICMR as co-owner of the patent applications for Covid-19 vaccine,” the statement said.
The company further said, though this was “purely unintentional”, such mistakes are “not uncommon for the patent office therefore Patent Law provides provisions to rectify such mistakes”.
The vaccine maker added it has “great respect for ICMR and is thankful to the agency for their continuous support on various projects”.
The Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin, was developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the ICMR and the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune. The SARS CoV2 virus, animal research, viral characterisation, test kits, and partial financing for clinical trial locations are all examples of the help that Bharat Biotech has received from ICMR. An agreement inked in August 2020 said that Bharat Biotech has developed Covaxin in collaboration with the ICMR and NIV.
A total of 220 crore vaccines have been administered in the country of which 36,39,30,701 were Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.
Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) has added the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) as a co-owner of the Covid vaccine patent.
The Hyderabad-based vaccine maker had not included ICMR in its original patent filing for Covaxin, which had led to a row. In a statement, the company termed the omission as “unintentional”.
“Bharat Biotech was working on developing the Covid-19 vaccine as a top priority to ensure product availability at the earliest. The Covid vaccine development of BBIL was faced with multiple challenges, and all organisations were in a rush to develop vaccines and file the appropriate patents, prior to any other entity or prior to any data being published in journals,” the company said.
“Therefore, as soon as this inadvertent mistake was noticed, BBIL has already started the process to rectify it by including ICMR as co-owner of the patent applications for Covid-19 vaccine,” the statement said.
The company further said, though this was “purely unintentional”, such mistakes are “not uncommon for the patent office therefore Patent Law provides provisions to rectify such mistakes”.
The vaccine maker added it has “great respect for ICMR and is thankful to the agency for their continuous support on various projects”.
The Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin, was developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the ICMR and the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune. The SARS CoV2 virus, animal research, viral characterisation, test kits, and partial financing for clinical trial locations are all examples of the help that Bharat Biotech has received from ICMR. An agreement inked in August 2020 said that Bharat Biotech has developed Covaxin in collaboration with the ICMR and NIV.
A total of 220 crore vaccines have been administered in the country of which 36,39,30,701 were Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.