The Brazilian government, which agreed to purchase 20 million doses of Bharat Biotechs COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin, on Wednesday announced suspension of the contract following allegations of irregularities in the deal.
"By recommendation of @CGUonline, we decided to temporarily suspend the Covaxin contract.
"According to CGU's preliminary analysis, there are no irregularities in the contract, but, due to compliance, the @minsaude opted to suspend the contract for further analysis," Brazil Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga tweeted.
The Covaxin contract to Brazil landed in controversy after the South American country's Attorney General reportedly launched a probe into the deal.
"It is noteworthy that the @govbr did not pay ANY CENT for the Covaxin vaccine.
The measure does not compromise the pace of the vaccination campaign against #Covid19 in Brazil, since there is no approval from Anvisa for emergency or definitive use of the immunizing agent," Queiroga said in another tweet.
Vaccine-maker reacts
Reacting to the development, Bharat Biotech in a statement emphatically denied any wrongdoing and said, "In the specific case of procurement of Covaxin by the Ministry of Health, Brazil, since the first meetings during Nov 2020 until June 29, a step-by-step approach has been followed towards contracts, and regulatory approvals, during this eight-month-long process."
"EUA received on June 4. As of June 29, Bharat Biotech has not received any advance payments nor supplied any vaccines to MOH Brazil. Bharat Biotech has followed a similar approach towards contracts, regulatory approvals and supplies in several countries worldwide, where Covaxin is being supplied successfully," it added.
The Hyderabad-based drug maker said reports in the media over the past few weeks had "misrepresented" the procurement process of Covaxin in Brazil and other countries.
"The procurement process for COVID-19 vaccines and several vaccines for routine immunization follow a common process which is widely accepted, and established in Industry," it said.
