The decision to expand beyond gene therapy and sign a deal to co-develop a COVID-19 vaccine has turned out well for Malvern-based Ocugen, writes John George for the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Since signing a binding letter of intent with India-based Bharat Biotech on Dec. 22 to co-develop its COVID-19 vaccine candidate for the U.S. market, the local biopharmaceutical company has seen its shares increase nearly 800 percent, from 29 cents per share to $2.60 on Wednesday morning.

Over the weekend, Bharat’s vaccine, Covaxin, was granted emergency approval from Indian government regulators.

The two companies are currently in the process of finalizing a definitive agreement, according to Dr. Shankar Musunuri, co-founder and CEO of Ocugen.

Ocugen is one of many companies prompted by the pandemic to reexamine its technology to determine what role it could play in developing COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.

“When we looked at our team and our network, we saw we do have pretty good vaccine experience,” Musunuri said. “So we looked at what we could do.”

That pursuit led the company to Bharat, which already had a portfolio of more than 16 vaccines.

“We felt their technology was pretty strong,” said Musunuri.

Read more about Ocugen in the Philadelphia Business Journal here.