The Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine producer, is ramping up production of AstraZeneca’s potential Covid-19 vaccine so that it can deliver 100 million doses in December for the vaccination campaign that may start across the country.
Serum Institute of India has partnered with AstraZeneca for the production of the coronavirus vaccine called ‘Covishield’, developed by the University of Oxford. The coronavirus vaccine candidate is currently in the phase 2-3 clinical trial in the country. Serum Institute of India and AstraZeneca have partnered to produce at least 1 billion doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Adar Poonawalla, executive director of the Serum Institute of India, said that the SII may obtain an emergency clearance from New Delhi in December if the coronavirus vaccine candidate shows an effective result, according to the Bloomberg report.
According to the report, Adar Poonawalla said that “the initial amount will go to India.”
On Thursday, the Serum Institute of India said it had manufactured 40 million doses of AstraZeneca’s potential Covid-19 vaccine and would soon begin making Novavax’s rival vaccine as both seek regulatory approval, the Reuters news agency reported. .
The Serum Institute of India, however, declined to comment on whether the 40 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were destined for global supply or just for India, according to the Reuters report.
The AstraZeneca vaccine, jointly developed by the University of Oxford, is the most advanced in human testing in India, Serum said, adding that the company and the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) will seek “early availability” of the injection in India.
The ICMR had funded the clinical trial site fees for the AstraZeneca vaccine, Serum said. The company and ICMR are conducting phase 2/3 clinical trials of the vaccine at 15 centers in India.
While there are no approved Covid-19 vaccines yet and trials are still underway to show they are safe and effective, major drug makers have received funding to start production early to speed deliveries as the pandemic has killed more. than 1.2 million people worldwide.
AstraZeneca AZN.L said last week that it was withholding deliveries of its Covid-19 candidate vaccine while awaiting data from late-stage clinical trials, which were delayed due to a summer drop in coronavirus infections in the Kingdom. United.
For the production of the Novavax NVAX.O vaccine, Serum said that it has received most of the vaccine from the American company and will soon be filling and ending up in vials.
Novavax, which is testing its vaccine in a late-stage study in the UK, postponed the start of its US trial last month by about a month due to delays in expanding the manufacturing process. The UK-made vaccine is currently being tested in large efficacy trials in the UK, Brazil, South Africa and the US.
Serum said it had enrolled 1,600 participants in India for the AstraZeneca candidate late-stage trials, and also plans to seek regulatory approval to conduct late-stage trials for the Novavax vaccine.
(With input from Reuters)
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