New Delhi [India], May 19 (ANI): US pharmaceutical giant Johnson and Johnson has joined hands with Biological E Limited (Telangana-based pharma company) for the manufacturing of the COVID-19 vaccine, as per an official statement on Tuesday.

The company's vaccine named, Janssen COVID-19 vaccine is currently approved for use in the United States, the European Union and other nations including Thailand and South Africa.

"JohnsonJohnson is working with Biological E. Limited on the manufacturing of the Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. We believe Biological E. will be an important part of our global COVID-19 vaccine supply network, where multiple manufacturing sites are involved in the production of our vaccine across different facilities, sometimes in different countries and continents, before the vaccine can be distributed", read an official statement by Johnson and Johnson.

"We are working around the clock to develop and broadly activate our manufacturing capabilities to supply our COVID-19 vaccine worldwide and we appreciate the ongoing and extensive collaborations and partnerships we have with governments, health authorities and other companies to help end this pandemic", informed Johnson and Johnson statement.

On April 5, US pharma giant Johnson and Johnson said it is in discussion with the Government of India to soon begin bridging clinical trials in the country for its single-dose Covid-19 vaccine Janssen.

"At JohnsonJohnson, we remain fully focused on bringing a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine to people around the world, if authorized for use by local health authorities. We are in discussions with the Government of India with the objective of starting a bridging clinical study of our Janssen Covid-19 vaccine candidate in India, subject to local regulatory approvals," a company statement said.

India currently has three approved vaccines in use i.e. Covishied, Covaxin and Sputnik V.

Following a surge in coronavirus cases and heightened demand of vaccines from states, the country is looking to ramp up its vaccine doses. (ANI)