Hyderabad: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the world to a standstill. But Bharti Biotechnology Chairman and Managing Director Dr. Krishna Ella was living life in an accelerated mode. He believes that he has lost 10 years of his life in the last 18 months, thanks to the stress that went along with the enthusiasm of development. covaxin,
In a rare face-to-face interview, Ella opened up to TOI about the thrill of developing India’s first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, but also about the dangers and controversies that have plagued the company as a whole. did. “The last 18 months were tough times. I have never fought so much for anything in the last 25 years (since he founded Bharat Biotech),” he says. “I feel like I’ve lost 10 peaceful years in this fight.”
With a childlike grin, he says that although Covaxin isn’t the first vaccine developed by his company, it was certainly the first time that BB was in constant headlines.
For Covaxin, we were working with a 1,000-liter fermenter with such a high density of live virus that it was enough to infect the whole of India. It was dangerous.”
Pointing out that any death due to infection at the company, even when there was no vaccine, would have been devastating, he explains: “Today, we have been vaccinated but then there was no vaccine. So, for about 4-5 months, around 20-25 of our critical employees could not go to their families. We took some apartments about 1 km away from our plant (genome valley, Hyderabad) and kept them there until we had an animal challenge study that indicated the vaccine provided 100% protection. ,
So how does he deal with intense scrutiny? Ella says after reaching home he switches off and doesn’t pick up any calls. Instead he spends his time doing what he loves most – reading up on the latest advances in the world of science. “I think the best way to deal with this is to focus on your business and keep growing,” he says.
In a rare face-to-face interview, Ella opened up to TOI about the thrill of developing India’s first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, but also about the dangers and controversies that have plagued the company as a whole. did. “The last 18 months were tough times. I have never fought so much for anything in the last 25 years (since he founded Bharat Biotech),” he says. “I feel like I’ve lost 10 peaceful years in this fight.”
With a childlike grin, he says that although Covaxin isn’t the first vaccine developed by his company, it was certainly the first time that BB was in constant headlines.
For Covaxin, we were working with a 1,000-liter fermenter with such a high density of live virus that it was enough to infect the whole of India. It was dangerous.”
Pointing out that any death due to infection at the company, even when there was no vaccine, would have been devastating, he explains: “Today, we have been vaccinated but then there was no vaccine. So, for about 4-5 months, around 20-25 of our critical employees could not go to their families. We took some apartments about 1 km away from our plant (genome valley, Hyderabad) and kept them there until we had an animal challenge study that indicated the vaccine provided 100% protection. ,
So how does he deal with intense scrutiny? Ella says after reaching home he switches off and doesn’t pick up any calls. Instead he spends his time doing what he loves most – reading up on the latest advances in the world of science. “I think the best way to deal with this is to focus on your business and keep growing,” he says.
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