Wockhardt Shares Jump 10% On COVID-19 Vaccine Partnership With UK Govt

On Monday, shares of Wockhardt Limited surged 10 percent to Rs 303.60 after the pharmaceutical and biotechnology company informed the exchanges that it has secured a partnership with the UK government to fill finish COVID-19 vaccine. "The manufacturing will be undertaken at CP Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Wockhardt based in Wrexham, North Wales," said the company in its statement.

As per the terms of the agreement the company has reserved manufacturing capacity to allow for the supply of multiple vaccines to the UK government in its fight against COVID19, including AZD1222, the vaccine co-invented by the University of Oxford and its spinout company, Vaccitech and licensed by AstraZeneca.

"Ensuring the UK has the capability to research, develop and manufacture a safe and effective vaccine is critical in our fight against coronavirus today we have secured additional capacity to manufacture millions of doses of multiple COVID-19 candidates, guaranteeing the supply of vaccines we need to protect people across the UK rapidly and in large numbers," said Alok Sharma, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Government of UK.

The government has reserved one fill and finish production line for its exclusive use for the next 18 months in order to guarantee the supply of vaccines required to fight COVID-19 in the UK, Wockhardt said.