Foundation stone laid for Biological E. vaccine unit in SEZ

Hyderabad : City-based vaccine manufacturer Biological E. Limited (BE) said it has laid the foundation stone for new facility in SEZ at Genome Valley in Kolthur village near here, with an initial investment outlay of Rs 300 crore.

Telangana Minister for IT and Industries K T Rama Rao laid the foundation in the presence of Paul Stoffels, Worldwide Chairman, Pharmaceuticals, Johnson and Johnson (J&J), Mahima Datla, Managing Director of BE, Jayesh Ranjan, IT Secretary of Telangana and Soumya Swaminathan, Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research, a company statement said.

"BE is planning an initial investment of up to Rs 300 crore in this new plant, which would help the existing vaccines plant to augment the production and manufacture new products that are in the pipeline. This investment is in line with and part of the already earmarked overall outlay of Rs 1000 crore in the Genome Valley across BE's vaccines and pharma businesses that are underway," Datla said.

The construction of the new facility on about 29 acres of land would be completed by April 2018 and commercial production is expected to begin by December 2019, she said.

Once the company's expansion initiatives in the Genome Valley are completed, an additional employment opportunity for around 1000 people would be generated, Datla added.