The Serum Institute is targeting, initially, 100 million doses of the Oxford vaccine.
Highlight
- The coronavirus vaccine could be ready in December: Adar Poonawalla
- Serum Institute targets 100 million doses of Oxford vaccine at first
- More than 150 potential vaccines are being developed and tested globally
New Delhi:
The Oxford coronavirus vaccine produced by India’s Serum Institute could be ready as early as December and the first batch of 100 million doses should be available by the second or third quarter of 2021, said Adar Poonawalla, head of the company. based in Pune, to NDTV on Wednesday. .
“If we don’t pursue an emergency license, our tests should end in December and then maybe we can launch in India in January, subject to the UK testing being completed as well, which is nearing completion,” said Mr. Poonawalla said.
“If the UK in the next two weeks clarifies its study and shares the data and is confident that it is safe, then we can, after two or three weeks, ask the Indian regulator to examine a possible emergency license if that is what it happens. The government of India wants it, “he said.
“That review could take around two or three weeks I imagine, and then you can have a vaccination by December, but all of this would have to happen and I don’t want to venture to guess if that will happen or not, because it is not my place to do it, that it is what the officials of the Ministry of Health must decide, “he added.
In elaborating on the general availability of the vaccine, he said: “Initially, our goal is to have 100 million doses available. This should be available by the second and third quarters of 2021.”
The Serum Institute, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by number of doses produced, is working on several candidate vaccines for the new coronavirus, including the one from AstraZeneca-Oxford University that has garnered global headlines, as well as developing its own.
More than 150 potential vaccines are being developed and tested globally, with 38 in human trials, and candidates from Moderna Inc, Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca Plc are already in late-stage trials.
There are no immediate concerns about the safety of the Oxford vaccines, Adar Poonawalla said, adding that while the early indicators are all positive, it will take a year or two to be sure that the candidate vaccine will have a long-term effect.
“The vaccine, when we have one, will be a two-dose vaccine. The gap between the two doses will be 28 days,” he said.
“We cannot comment on the cost yet because we are in talks with the government. But I would say it would be in the range of a couple hundred rupees and the rest will be absorbed by the government,” he said.
Mr. Poonawalla also said that he expected the vaccine produced by the Serum Institute to be much more affordable than the Sanofi-GSK and Moderna vaccines.
“Some people called me crazy when I said I would invest $ 200 million in this in March-April, but if we had not made the decision then, and we did it now, it would have meant losing six months, and six months would mean many more lives. lost, “he said.
The decision making took around 2-3 hours, not because of finances, but because these decisions were technical and we had to see in which candidate to invest ”, he added.
India’s coronavirus count approached the 80 lakh mark on Wednesday, recording 43,893 new cases and 508 deaths in the past 24 hours. The country is fast closing in on the US in total infections, which is the worst affected nation in the world with more than 87 lakh of cases.
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