Ocugen Inc seeks to sell 100 million doses of India’s state-backed COVID-19 vaccine COVAXIN in the United States this year, the US firm’s Chief Executive Shankar Musunuri told Reuters on Monday.

The Pennsylvania-based biopharmaceutical firm is partnering with India’s Bharat Biotech, a developer of the vaccine, to commercialize the shot in the United States. COVAXIN was shown to be 81 per cent effective in an interim analysis of late-stage trial data on some 26,000 people in India. Musunuri said Ocugen aimed to launch the two-dose vaccine in the United States in the second quarter of 2021, initially with imported shots before beginning production there. It is unclear whether the US government is seeking additional vaccine suppliers. The US Department of Health and Human Services, which runs Operation Warp Speed, declined to comment on potential interest in COVAXIN. Musunuri said Ocugen had held initial talks with the US Food and Drug Administration and planned to seek emergency use authorization in April, the FDA declined to comment.

The U.S. government’s Operation Warp Speed program to bring COVID-19 vaccines to market quickly has ordered over 800 million doses from Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson , the first three shots to be authorized for emergency use in the country. Additional supply has been ordered from at least two other drugmakers. Pfizer, Moderna and J&J are expected to deliver more than enough shots for all adult Americans by the end of May.

Bharat Biotech says as many as 40 countries are interested in COVAXIN and it has sought emergency approvals in Brazil and the Philippines. Cracking the US market would be a significant milestone for the company and India’s vaccine industry, the world’s largest.