AstraZeneca vaccine co-inventor visits Incepta Pharma office

Sarah Gilbert, a vaccinologist and co-inventor of AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, visited the office of Incepta Pharmaceuticals today.

Gilbert is a professor of vaccine science at the Jenner Institute, Oxford and Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine of the University of Oxford. She led the development of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for Covid-19.

She was awarded the prestigious Albert Medal by the Queen in 2021 and Damehood by the Princess Royal at Windsor Castle in 2022 for her contribution to developing the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, Incepta Pharma said in a press release.

Abdul Muktadir, chairman and managing director of Incepta Pharmaceuticals, and Hasneen Muktadir, vice-chairman, welcomed Gilbert at the Incepta head office in Tejgaon, Dhaka.

Future challenges of vaccine production in Bangladesh, availability of vaccines to common people, and capacity of vaccine production were discussed during her visit.

Various aspects of modern and advanced technologies in vaccine production were deliberated and Gilbert gave her guidance on how Incepta can incorporate these modern technologies, said the drug maker.

Incepta Chairman Muktadir requested her to take initiatives to arrange high-level training for vaccine development at Oxford University for the scientists of Incepta. Gilbert gave a positive response, according to the press release.

As an outcome, it is expected that scientists working at Incepta will be able to receive higher training on vaccine development at Oxford University.

Mahbubul Karim, chief operating officer, and EH Arefin Ahmed, executive director, were present.