World's largest vaccine maker, Serum Institute of India (SII) is ramping up production of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 shot to have 100 million doses ready by December for which an inoculation drive is anticipated to start across India, simultaneously.
SII together with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) are under collaboration on the clinical trials of the vaccine in the country. ICMR has funded the clinical trial site fees, whereas SII is taking care of other expenses for Covishield. Currently, SII and ICMR are conducting II/III clinical trial of the vaccine at 15 different verticals across the country.
As per Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the Pune-based firm said that "initial amount will go to India. If final-stage trial data show AstraZeneca's candidate gives effective protection from the virus, the Serum Institute of India may get emergency authorization from New Delhi by December,"
SII has already manufactured 40 million doses of the vaccine, under the at-risk manufacturing and stockpiling licence from Drugs Controller General of India. The institute also aims to begin manufacturing Novavax's contender soon. "We were a bit concerned it was a big risk," Poonawalla said, adding that both AstraZeneca and Novavax's shots "are looking pretty good".
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