India Emerges as Global Vaccine Leader with USD 195.3 Billion Bioeconomy
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh announced that India has become the world's largest vaccine producer and global supplier by volume, supplying vaccines to more than 100 countries. India accounts for nearly 60% of global vaccine production and meets more than 65% of WHO's routine immunization requirements. The country's bioeconomy reached USD 195.3 billion in 2025, recording 18% year-on-year growth, while the biotech startup ecosystem expanded to 11,855 startups, including 1,780 new startups added in 2025 alone. The biopharma sector accounts for nearly 30% of India's bioeconomy.
India-CEPI Partnership Advances Vaccine Development
The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and BIRAC have been working with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) under a tripartite engagement strategy first executed in October 2019 and renewed in September 2025 for another five years. The India-centric CEPI Mission, Ind-CEPI, implemented by BRIC-THSTI and BIRAC, has delivered significant outcomes including India's first mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, GEMCOVAC-19, which received Emergency Use Authorisation. An inactivated Chikungunya vaccine candidate is currently undergoing Phase II/III trials, while Multivalent Self-assembled Nanocage technology-based vaccine candidates for Monkeypox and pan-sarbecoviruses are at an advanced pre-clinical stage.
Research Infrastructure and Global Collaboration
The partnership has created shared infrastructure with global relevance, including the BRIC-THSTI Bioassay Laboratory recognized as one of CEPI's 17 centralised network laboratories. This facility has supported eight vaccine candidates at different stages, from pre-clinical development to Phase III efficacy trials, for developers in India and several other countries, testing more than one lakh samples for vaccine development. BRIC-THSTI's animal facility has also become part of CEPI's pre-clinical network. Capacity building initiatives include advanced Vaccinology Courses and the PACT programme, which has provided online training to more than 2,400 participants from 14 friendly and neighbouring countries.
Scientific Advantages and Future Directions
India's diverse disease landscape, combined with its expanding scientific capabilities, provides a unique platform for vaccine research and epidemic preparedness. The country's heterogeneous disease environment, facing both communicable diseases and growing burden of non-communicable disorders, creates a rich scientific environment for understanding pathogens and disease patterns. The next phase of cooperation aims to strengthen India's biomedical intervention development ecosystem through universal and pan-pathogen vaccine development, advanced biomanufacturing capabilities, and wider national and global collaborative networks.