For the executive director of the Serum Institute of India, Adar Poonawalla, the moment of happy new year came on January 3 after the General Controller of Drugs of India on Sunday gave the final go-ahead to Covishield, the vaccine developed by the Oxford University and leading pharmaceutical Astrazeneca and manufactured in India by Poonawalla’s. Serum Institute. It received the go-ahead for restricted emergency use in India, after the expert committee on the subject reviewed its data and recommended the vaccine for emergency use.
“Happy New Year everyone! All the risks that @SerumInstIndia took in storing the vaccine have finally paid off. COVISHIELD, India’s first COVID-19 vaccine is approved, safe, effective and ready to roll out in the next few weeks, ”Adar tweeted, thanking Prime Minister Modi, Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan, and all other stakeholders including ICMR, DBT, DCGI, Gavi, Gates Foundation, etc.
Even before gaining approval from India’s main drug controller, the Serum Institute of India stockpiled between 40 and 50 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, posing a significant risk should the drug regulator reject its application. The world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, by volume it produces, has also set a goal of producing around 300 million doses of Covishield by July 2021.
Overall, Serum’s investment in Covishield has exceeded $ 100 million. According to a Forbes interview, Adar Poonawalla said in November that he had already spent $ 300 million and another $ 500 will be paid out in due course. Serum has created a new company, Serum Institute Life Sciences, to support the new initiatives, which is the first “pandemic level” manufacturing facility of its kind in Pune.
The Serum Institute has also collaborated with Gavi and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to manufacture and deliver up to 100 million doses of vaccines to other low- and middle-income countries as part of Gavi COVAX AMC.
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