Pharmaceutical company Biological E. Ltd (BE) said on Monday that it had cut the price of the COVID-19 vaccine Corbevax from Rs 840 to Rs 250 per dose, including GST, from private vaccination centres. This will result in end users paying a price of Rs 400 per dose, including taxes and administrative fees, the company said in a statement. Previously, at private vaccination centres, the total cost to end-users of vaccines was Rs 990 per dose, including taxes and administrative charges.

When the country started vaccinating children aged 12 to 14 against COVID-19 in March, the Corbevax vaccine was used, and the price of the government vaccination program was fixed at Rs 145. “BE has lowered the price of its vaccine to make it more affordable and help expand coverage to protect as many children as possible from the virus,” the company said.

In April, India’s drug regulator granted emergency use authorisation (EUA) for Biologic E’s Corbevax for children aged 5 to 12 years and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for children aged 6 to 12 years. BE partnered with Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine to develop Corbevax. Before receiving the EUA vaccine, the company said it had conducted Phase II and Phase III multicenter clinical trials in 624 children aged 5-12 and 12-18.