Hester Biosciences jumps as company inks Covaxin pact

NEW DELHI: Hester Biosciences shares surged as much as 14 per cent on Friday after the pharma firm signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with vaccine maker Bharat Biotech and Gujarat Covid Vaccine Consortium (GCVC) for contract manufacturing the drug substance for Covaxin.

The scrip jumped 14 per cent to Rs 3,099 in early deals, but gave up some of those gains to trade at Rs 2,914.75 at 11:00 am. The stock sharply outperformed the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex index, which was up 230.26 points or 0.45 per cent at 51,345.48.

GCVC comprises Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre, Hester Biosciences and Omnibrx Biotechnologies. According to the MoU, Bharat Biotech will provide the technology for the production of the drug substance for Covaxin, and GBRC will act as an advisor and mentor, and will facilitate the technology transfer from Bharat Biotech, Hester said in a filing.

Hester will provide the complete infrastructure at its Gujarat plant for the manufacturing of the drug substance and Omnibrx will act as a technology support partner, the filing said.

"If everything goes as per the schedule, the drug substance would be available from August 2021 which will be supplied back to Bharat Biotech for producing Covaxin," it added.

Hester has estimated an outlay of Rs 40 crore for this project. The entire process is facilitated by the Department of Biotechnology, the company said. The manufacturing of vaccines is a complicated procedure and highly regulated.

However, if everything goes as per the plan, then bulk production of this drug substance equivalent to 20 million doses per month will begin from August 2021. This will be then supplied back to Bharat Biotech for producing vaccine doses, it noted.

Hester Biosciences shares have almost tripled in the last one year from Rs 1,110 on May 29, 2020 to Rs 3,180 on May 18, 2021. However, the counter has mildly retreated from its recent peak.

Hester Biosciences is a leading player in the animal healthcare segment. It is the second largest poultry vaccine manufacturer in the country. Only three vaccines have so far been approved to be sold in India: Covaxin, Covishield and Sputnik V.