Mumbai-headquartered pharmaceutical and biotech company Wockhardt’s UK arm announced a collaboration with Serum Life Sciences UK, a subsidiary of Serum Institute of India (SII) this week.
SII, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, will work with Wockhardt UK to deliver a global vaccine programme for the supply of a wide range of vaccines.
This collaboration involves manufacturing of a number of vaccines at the Wockhardt UK site in North Wales. A profit-sharing arrangement has been agreed between the two parties for this new facility which will help create a considerable number of employment opportunities along with creation of new sterile facility in Wrexham, North Wales.
This new facility will deliver an additional 150 million vaccine doses of multiple vaccines.
Wockhardt UK has been manufacturing a Covid-19 vaccine in collaboration with UK government and AstraZeneca. The company said its latest collaboration with Serum Life Sciences UK is an addition to the earlier arrangement.
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Murtaza Khorakiwala, Global CEO of Wockhardt, said: “This deal signifies the role that we will now play in the global supply of multiple vaccines, protecting citizens against infectious diseases.”
Natasha Poonawalla, chairperson of Serum Life Sciences, said: “We are delighted to have formed a strategic partnership between Wockhardt and Serum Life Sciences.
“The collaboration will be instrumental in building long-term capacity in the UK. With this, we seek to further bolster supply resilience and support the global rollout of vaccines.”
In the UK, Wockhardt is one of the largest suppliers into the National Health Service (NHS) for over 20 years. The company has had a presence in Wrexham for over two decades and employs over 400 people at its 612,000 square feet high-tech manufacturing facility.
“As a global organisation, we are focussed and committed to assist in mitigating the worldwide impact of Covid-19,” Dr Habil Khorakiwala, Founder Chairman of Wockhardt, said back in 2020 when the company entered into a fill and finish tie-up with the NHS.