Adar Poonawalla said the partnership with Novovax has shown “excellent results.”
New Delhi:
The Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine maker, is hoping to launch Covovax, developed in partnership with US vaccine developer Novavax, by June, CEO Adar Poonawalla said today. In a UK trial, the US-based pharmaceutical company’s Covid jab was found to be 89.3 percent effective.
The Pune-based Serum Institute has already requested local trials for the candidate vaccine in India. “Our partnership for a COVID-19 vaccine with @Novavax has also published excellent efficacy results. We have also requested to start trials in India. We look forward to launching #COVOVAX by June 2021!” Adar Poonawalla tweeted this afternoon, “read Poonawalla’s tweet.
Earlier this month, India began the world’s largest inoculation campaign after drug regulator DCGI licensed two vaccines: Covishield from IBS and Covaxin from Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical firm Bharat Biotech.
Covishield has been developed in association with the University of Oxford and the British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca.
Our partnership for a COVID-19 vaccine with @Novavax has also published excellent efficacy results. We have also requested to start trials in India. I hope to launch #COVOVAX by June 2021!
– Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) January 30, 2021
India is the fastest country in the world to vaccinate three million people, the government said in a series of tweets on Friday, comparing it to other nations.
#IndiaFightsCorona#LargestVaccineDrivepic.twitter.com/TWHt0mZGAm
– Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) January 29, 2021
Earlier this month, Poonawalla said his company would make “more than 40-50 million doses per month” of the Novavax vaccine starting in about April. The efficacy of the Novavax vaccine was estimated to be 95.6% against the original coronavirus strain and 85.6% against the UK variant. But the level of protection was lower in a smaller mid-stage trial in South Africa.
Today marks one year of India’s fight against the new coronavirus, which has affected more than 1.07 million million people in the country.
“India, in these times of crisis, has fulfilled its global responsibilities from the beginning by establishing an infrastructure related to vaccination. Only two vaccines made in India have been introduced so far, but many more vaccines will be available in the future.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said earlier this week, addressing a virtual meeting of the World Economic Forum.
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