COVID-19 outbreak: the Pune Serum Institute is ready to manufacture the coronavirus vaccine

“IBS will manufacture the vaccine in anticipation of clinical trials that will be successful between September and October in the UK,” said Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the Serum Institute. (Representative image)

The Serum Institute of India (IBS), which has partnered with the University of Oxford, has started work on manufacturing a coronavirus vaccine. IBS has begun work even when the University of Oxford began clinical trials of the vaccine it developed on Thursday.

Once the clinical trials are over and successful, IBS will launch its vaccine. If the Oxford clinical trials are unsuccessful, the loss will be from IBS. IBS will also conduct some limited clinical trials.

“IBS will manufacture the vaccine in anticipation of clinical trials that will be successful between September and October in the UK,” said Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the Serum Institute.

SII is currently awaiting government regulatory approval (ICMR and DBT) and once it gets the same, perhaps within two weeks, it expects to start production of 2-3 million doses by the end of May, Poonawalla said.

The serum institute will invest its own money to make the vaccine. Poonawalla hopes to have the support of the government and organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to manufacture the vaccines in the country.

The vaccine will be manufactured at the IBS Pune plant, where an existing plant has the capacity to handle the manufacture of this type of vaccine. If successful, the ability to make the vaccine will increase to 5 million doses in October and up to 10 million doses six months later.