- Contract Management Leader Donates INR 15 Lakhs to Renowned Biomedical 
Research Institute to Test Anti-Tuberculosis (BCG) Vaccine as COVID-19 
Treatment 

    Icertis [https://www.icertis.com/contract-management-software/], the 
leading provider of enterprise contract management in the cloud, today 
announced a contribution of INR 15 Lakhs to Haffkine Institute 
[http://www.haffkineinstitute.org/] to support their efforts in testing an 
anti-tuberculosis vaccine as a treatment for COVID-19. This donation will cover 
insurance costs to patients, indemnity to nurses, doctors and investigators, 
drug supplies, and consumables for patient sample testing in the clinical 
trials of the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine as a means to neutralize 
the effects of COVID-19. 

    At this time, when there are no vaccines to stop the pandemic spread nor 
established curative treatment methods, the need to develop effective 
treatments has become critical. Heeding to the efforts of the Indian government 
to curtail further growth of the pandemic, Haffkine Institute is working on the 
development of new treatment modalities for COVID-19. The Institute is working 
with the state government, various government-run hospitals and Pune's BJ 
Medical College to test potential cures for COVID-19. The trial that Icertis is 
funding will assess whether BCG can help bolster the immune system of patients. 

    The Haffkine Institute has been a center for scientific and industrial 
research since its inception in 1896," said Dr. Sanjay Mukherjee, Secretary, 
Medical Education & Drugs Department, Government of Maharashtra. "We are 
grateful to Icertis for the generous contribution towards the Institute's 
efforts to tackle the spread of COVID-19. We are constantly working on ways to 
develop new treatments for COVID-19 and this contribution will help our teams 
immensely as we unite to win this battle against the virus."

    The Haffkine Institute is an autonomous research institute with an 
illustrious history. Established in 1896 and named after the inventor of the 
plague vaccine, Dr. Waldemar Mordecai Haffkine, it has operated as a public 
trust supported by the State of Maharashtra since 1975, focused on training, 
research and testing to prevent and cure communicable diseases. Much of its 
research has been focused on testing, monitoring, prevention and treatment of 
communicable diseases like Influenza, H1N1 and Rabies.

    "As the world comes to terms with the enormity of the COVID-19 pandemic, we 
need to come together to find a cure," said Monish Darda, CTO & Co-founder 
Icertis. "Helping to take care of our community is part of the Four Rings of 
Responsibility that every Icertian wears proudly. And with the Haffkine 
Institute, there is a personal connection to me and Pune as well – I remember 
the stories my grandfather used to tell me about life during the plague that 
hit Mumbai and Pune, and the development of the plague vaccine. We are thankful 
to Haffkine Institute for working tirelessly to develop a COVID-19 vaccine and 
are proud to play a small part in the global fight to beat COVID-19." 

    Icertis' gift was made possible by voluntary reductions in pay to CEO and 
Co-founder Samir Bodas, CTO and Co-founder Monish Darda and continues Icertis' 
efforts to address the needs of the community. Last month, Icertis donated INR 
25 lakh [ 
https://www.icertis.com/blog/icertis-contributes-ppe-to-aid-covid-19-response-in-pune/] 
to ensure the safety of brave doctors, nurses, and hospital staff of Naidu 
Hospital, Pune, with personal protection equipment, including N95 masks, gowns, 
and gloves, hand sanitizer dispensers, and viral transport media (VTM) kits, 
which protect test samples in transit to the lab. Since the start of this 
pandemic, Icertis has contributed more than US$200,000 to the organizations 
worldwide, including the University of Washington, the German Red Cross and the 
Seattle Alliance for Education in its effort to contribute to the communities 
in which it operates.

    For more information about Icertis' response to the COVID-19 pandemic, 
visit www.icertis.com/covid-19-resources/. 

    About Icertis

    Icertis, the leading enterprise contract management platform in the cloud, 
solves the hardest contract management problems on the easiest to use platform. 
With Icertis, companies accelerate their business by increasing contract 
velocity, protect against risk by ensuring regulatory and policy compliance, 
and optimize their commercial relationships by maximizing revenue and reducing 
costs. The AI-infused Icertis Contract Management (ICM) platform is used by 
companies like Airbus, Cognizant, Daimler, Microsoft and Sanofi to manage 6.5 
million contracts in 40+ languages across 90+ countries. Today, the 
analyst-validated industry leader serves 5 of the top 10 most valuable 
companies, 5 of the top 8 pharmaceutical companies, 4 of the top 7 software 
companies, 3 of the top 5 manufacturing companies and 4 of the top 8 consulting 
services companies.

Icertis Media Contact:
Haley Flanagan
Manager of Corporate Communications, Icertis
CorpComm@icertis.com  

Genesis BCW Contact:
shruti.singh@genesis-bcw.com; 
+91-96544497747 

anuj.bhinde@genesis-bcw.com; 
+91-7208421492
 
 
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    Source: Icertis