Singh said India’s vaccine capabilities now cover the entire value chain, from research and innovation to clinical development and advanced biological manufacturing.
This growing ecosystem, he added, provides the country with the capacity to develop solutions for emerging infectious diseases rather than relying primarily on conventional vaccine manufacturing.
The partnership has also expanded India’s role in international vaccine research infrastructure.
More than one lakh samples have been tested by the facility for vaccine development.
BRIC-THSTI’s animal facility has also joined CEPI’s pre-clinical network, strengthening India’s contribution to international vaccine development programmes.
Last Updated on September 14, 2026 11:23 pm by INDIAN AWAAZ
BISHESHWAR MISHRA / New Delhi
India is seeking to leverage its large-scale vaccine manufacturing base, diverse disease landscape and expanding biotechnology ecosystem to play a bigger role in global epidemic preparedness and the development of next-generation biomedical solutions, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh said.
Speaking at a high-level reception hosted jointly by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) in New Delhi, Singh said India has moved well beyond the limitations of a decade ago and now possesses capabilities spanning vaccine research, advanced biologics, clinical development and large-scale manufacturing.
The event brought together CEPI Board and Investors Council members, policymakers, scientists, industry representatives and other stakeholders involved in vaccine innovation and epidemic preparedness. The CEPI governance meetings in New Delhi are particularly significant as they come a decade after the organisation’s previous governance meeting in India.
Singh said India’s objective should now extend beyond being a major vaccine manufacturer to becoming an important contributor to the global architecture for epidemic and pandemic preparedness.
India supplies vaccines to more than 100 countries, accounts for nearly 60 per cent of global vaccine production and meets more than 65 per cent of the World Health Organization’s routine immunisation requirements, according to figures cited by the minister. He said the country’s experience during the Covid-19 pandemic demonstrated that India could combine scientific research, rapid development and manufacturing scale to respond to a global health emergency.
Bioeconomy expands rapidly
The minister highlighted the rapid expansion of India’s biotechnology sector as an important foundation for this transition. India’s bioeconomy reached $195.3 billion in 2025, registering 18 per cent year-on-year growth. The country’s biotech startup ecosystem expanded to 11,855 startups, including 1,780 new ventures added during 2025. The biopharma industry alone accounts for nearly 30 per cent of India’s bioeconomy.
Singh said India’s vaccine capabilities now cover the entire value chain, from research and innovation to clinical development and advanced biological manufacturing. This growing ecosystem, he added, provides the country with the capacity to develop solutions for emerging infectious diseases rather than relying primarily on conventional vaccine manufacturing.
A key advantage for India is its heterogeneous disease environment. The country faces a wide range of communicable diseases while simultaneously experiencing a growing burden of non-communicable and metabolic disorders. Singh said this combination creates challenges for public health but also offers a valuable scientific environment for studying pathogens, disease patterns and interactions between infectious and metabolic conditions.
He argued that India’s microbial and disease diversity, combined with its expanding scientific talent, can become a strategic asset for global biomedical research.
India-CEPI partnership
The DBT-BIRAC-CEPI partnership is central to this effort. The tripartite engagement, first established in October 2019, was renewed in September 2025 for another five years to strengthen vaccine research and development for emerging infectious diseases and improve epidemic preparedness.
Under the India-focused Ind-CEPI Mission, implemented by BRIC-THSTI and BIRAC, India has already achieved important milestones. These include the country’s first mRNA Covid-19 vaccine, GEMCOVAC-19, which received Emergency Use Authorisation; an inactivated Chikungunya vaccine candidate undergoing Phase II/III trials; and self-assembled nanocage-based multivalent vaccine candidates targeting Monkeypox and pan-sarbecoviruses, currently at an advanced pre-clinical stage.
The partnership has also expanded India’s role in international vaccine research infrastructure. The BRIC-THSTI Bioassay Laboratory has been recognised among CEPI’s 17 centralised network laboratories and has supported eight vaccine candidates at stages ranging from pre-clinical development to Phase III efficacy trials. More than one lakh samples have been tested by the facility for vaccine development.
BRIC-THSTI’s animal facility has also joined CEPI’s pre-clinical network, strengthening India’s contribution to international vaccine development programmes.
Focus shifts to pan-pathogen vaccines
Capacity building is another component of the collaboration. BRIC-THSTI and CEPI have conducted advanced vaccinology courses, while the PACT programme has provided online training to more than 2,400 participants from 14 neighbouring and friendly countries, strengthening regional capabilities for clinical trials.
Singh said the next phase should focus on converting India’s scientific strengths into deployable health solutions, with greater emphasis on universal and pan-pathogen vaccines, advanced biomanufacturing and wider international research networks.
India’s expanding bioeconomy, scientific infrastructure and manufacturing capacity, he said, place the country in a position to contribute substantially to global preparedness while simultaneously improving its ability to respond rapidly to future outbreaks.
The minister also stressed closer coordination among government institutions, academia, industry and international organisations. The broader objective, he said, should be to transform scientific capability into practical interventions that can be rapidly deployed during future epidemics and pandemics.
The New Delhi meeting therefore marked more than a decade-long India-CEPI association. It underscored a broader shift in India’s role—from a major supplier of affordable vaccines to an increasingly important research, innovation and manufacturing partner in global health security.
