Bharat Biotech Celebrates 3 Decades Of Scientific Excellence And Global Vaccine Leadership
Over the years, the company that began from Hyderabad has developed and supplied vaccines that are an integral part of national and global immunisation programmes.
Published : March 13, 2026 at 12:54 PM IST
Hyderabad: Bharat Biotech celebrated 30 years of scientific innovation, public health impact, and its continued commitment to protecting lives in India and around the world. Commemorating this significant milestone, the company unveiled a special anniversary logo symbolising its three-decade legacy of excellence and impact.
The logo was unveiled by its founders, Executive Chairman Dr Krishna Ella, and Managing Director Suchitra K Ella, amid enthusiastic applause from its large workforce at its Genome Valley facility in Hyderabad. The celebration marked the beginning of a year-long calendar of initiatives to highlight the company’s journey, and to reaffirm its focus on advancing global health.
Founded in 1996 by Dr Krishna Ella, who is widely regarded as the Father of Genome Valley, and his partner Suchitra Ella, a driving force behind India’s vaccine innovation ecosystem, Bharat Biotech began its journey on the outskirts of Hyderabad with a bold vision to build world-class, research-driven vaccines in India. As one of the earliest anchor industries in the region, the company played a catalytic role in transforming it into today's Genome Valley, a globally recognised biotechnology hub, now acknowledged as Asia’s largest life sciences cluster. Over three decades, Bharat Biotech has helped position India as a trusted innovator and supplier of affordable, high-quality vaccines to the world.
Reflecting on the milestone, Dr Krishna Ella said, “Thirty years ago, we started Bharat Biotech with a simple but powerful belief, that Indian science can solve global health challenges. Our strength has always been our scientists, our proprietary technologies, and our commitment to innovation with purpose. Every vaccine we developed carries the hard work of teams who believed that affordable healthcare is a right, not a privilege.”
Suchitra Ella said, “This journey is about people, the researchers in our labs, the partners who trusted us, and the families whose lives have been protected by our vaccines. We built our own intellectual property, our own manufacturing strengths, and our own scientific platforms because we believed India must lead, not follow. As we enter advanced cell and gene therapy, we remain guided by the same mission: Science for society.”
A 30-Year-Long Journey
From its early breakthrough in developing one of the world’s most affordable recombinant Hepatitis B vaccines, Bharat Biotech established itself as a pioneer in accessible vaccine innovation, focused on addressing infectious and neglected diseases that disproportionately affect emerging nations.
Over the years, the company has developed and supplied vaccines that form an integral part of national and global immunisation programmes, including vaccines against Rotavirus, Japanese Encephalitis, Malaria (RTS, S), and Typhoid Conjugate Disease, reinforcing its commitment to advancing equitable healthcare worldwide.
A defining milestone in the company’s journey was the development of its indigenous Rotavirus vaccine through an Indo-US public-private partnership, aimed at protecting millions of children from life-threatening diarrheal disease. Reinforcing its commitment to equitable access, Dr Krishna Ella pledged to make the vaccine available at an affordable price of just US$ 1 per dose for public health programmes — an unprecedented step that emphasises the company’s mission to deliver high-quality, life-saving vaccines at scale for the developing world.
The company’s Japanese Encephalitis vaccine significantly strengthened India’s response to a recurring and often fatal seasonal threat. It further advanced global immunisation efforts with the development and introduction of a pioneering Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine (TCV), expanding access to longer-lasting protection against typhoid fever, particularly for low- and middle-income countries. The company is also advancing MTBVAC, a tuberculosis vaccine candidate, as part of ongoing efforts to address the global TB burden.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bharat Biotech demonstrated its scientific agility with the rapid development of COVAXIN®, India’s first indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccine. Developed under a public–private partnership in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), COVAXIN® emerged as a powerful symbol of India’s scientific capability and self-reliance.
The vaccine received Emergency Use Authorisation in multiple countries and played a meaningful role in global vaccination efforts during one of the most challenging public health crises in modern history.
World’s Largest Rabies Vaccine Manufacturer
Bharat Biotech has also established global leadership in rabies prevention, emerging as the world’s largest manufacturer of rabies vaccines, and playing a critical role in expanding access to life-saving post-exposure prophylaxis. Reinforcing its commitment to scale and next-generation innovation, the company established Sapigen Biologix at the Odisha Biotech Park — an ambitious life sciences ecosystem envisioned by Dr Krishna Ella to catalyse regional biotechnology development to address global public health priorities.
Recently, Bharat Biotech stepped into the future with advanced research in cell and gene therapies through Nucelion Therapeutics, expanding beyond traditional vaccines into next-generation biotechnology solutions. This move reflects the company’s ambition to tackle complex diseases through precision science, innovative platforms, and transformative technologies.
Over the past 30 years, Bharat Biotech has grown from a single facility in Hyderabad into a global vaccine powerhouse. Today, the company boasts a portfolio of 20 vaccines, world-class manufacturing sites in Hyderabad, Ankleshwar, and Odisha, and a robust intellectual property portfolio with over 220 granted patents, a growing workforce of over 4,000 employees, and over 9 billion doses of vaccines delivered to over 125 countries.
About Bharat Biotech
Over the past three decades, Bharat Biotech has grown from a single facility into a global biotechnology leader, operating world-class R&D, Bio-Safety Level 3 manufacturing, and vertically integrated cell and gene therapy facilities.
The company has a strong track record of innovation, with over 220 patents granted and another 415 filed, a portfolio of 20 vaccines and 4 biotherapeutics, registrations in over 125 countries, and multiple WHO pre-qualifications. Its breakthroughs include vaccines against influenza H1N1, Rotavirus (ROTAVAC®), Japanese Encephalitis (JENVAC®), Rabies (Chirorab® and Indirab®), Chikungunya, Zika, Cholera (HILLCHOL®), Malaria (RTS, S), and the world’s first tetanus-toxoid conjugated vaccine for Typhoid (Typbar TCV®).
This has established the company as a pioneer in accessible and affordable vaccine innovation, while it also advances the tuberculosis vaccine candidate MTBVAC.
Sister Companies That Strengthen Bharat Biotech’s Global Leadership
- Chiron Behring Vaccines, making Bharat Biotech one of the world’s largest rabies vaccine manufacturers
- Sapigen Biologix, Bharat Biotech's multi-crore manufacturing hub in Bhubaneswar, producing up to 8 billion doses annually with a focus on malaria, cholera, polio, and upcoming vaccines for Chikungunya and Zika
- Nucelion, driving advanced research in next-generation vaccine platforms, cell and gene therapies, and large-scale production
With a commitment to indigenous innovation, public-private partnerships, and global social impact, Bharat Biotech continues to advance scientific frontiers, strengthen global health security, and deliver life-saving vaccines to millions worldwide.
